


She's the man

by TaniaHylian



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Barbara x Lotte (implied), Chamber of time based, Diakko (implied), F/F, Hamanda, Hannah's sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-06-27 16:44:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 31,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19794901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaniaHylian/pseuds/TaniaHylian
Summary: Amanda wasn't sure how on Earth Hannah had found a picture of her dressed like a boy, where had she gotten the idea it was actually a picture of her non-existent brother, or why she wanted to date him. But hey, when life gives you lemons... you just gotta make a whole mess.





	1. A friend in need

**Author's Note:**

> So, the title of this fic is based on a movie of the same name, but the plot isn't all that similar, or even inspired by it. Oh, and other thing, what kickstarts this whole story is an event from a sidequest in the game Chamber of Time, so if you haven't played it, go search for a video playthrough of "Hannah's sweetheart", or else this first chapter may be a bit confusing. That said, please enjoy :)

****

**Chapter 1: A friend (?) in need.**

It was a warm spring day at the Luna Nova academy for witches. A gentle breeze was blowing through the school, carrying with it the suffocating heat of the sun and the sweet scent of flowers and grass. The birds chirped happily on the trees, the bees and butterflies searched for the sweet nectar of the surrounding flowers, and the annoying mosquitoes tried their best to bite the unsuspecting witches. The semester had just started a few days ago, so there wasn’t much activity as of yet; mostly students catching up with their friends and getting re-accustomed to their life at school.

However, laying on the grass at the courtyard was a solitary girl taking a break after having spent almost an hour showing off her exceptional flying abilities to the impressionable new students, earning herself yet another bunch of admirers. Yes, Amanda O'Neil might not be as popular as Diana, but she still had quite a few fans of her own.

Normally she would be catching up with her two roommates, or at least chatting with her other friends of the red team, but fate had conspired against her. Akko was in the infirmary after she’d fallen off of her broom, and her worried teammates were with her, along with Diana. Amanda had paid her a visit earlier, but she didn’t see the point in staying when the nurse had insisted only one of them could be at her side at a time, forcing them to take turns. So after wishing her a swift recovery and making a couple of jokes at her expense, she’d left.

Constanze, on the other hand, was working on some kind of new design for stanbot to allow him to take advantage of the new excess of magic in the world, so it was better not to disturb her. Jasminka had gone to town to buy some ingredients for a new recipe she wanted to try, and Hannah and Barbara… yeah, she’d rather be alone than spend even one second with either one of those two. Or worse: _both_.

It’s not like she hated them, exactly. But they were too girly for her liking. Too snobby. Too bratty. Too rich. They were, in summary, everything she was supposed to be but wasn’t.

She only tolerated them because they were friends with her friends, but she never talked to them directly, and they didn’t talk to her either, which was honestly best for everyone.

So a solitary Amanda closed her eyes as she relaxed to the sound of the wind, wishing to forget about all her worries and responsibilities for a least a couple more hours… but then her peace was rudely interrupted by a loud and high pitched voice that came from someone who had decided to stand next to where she was laying.

“O’Neill.” Hannah called as greeting, her voice being as irritating as usual.

Amanda only opened one eye and regarded her for a moment before closing it again and answering in a nonchalant tone.

“What’s up, England? Where’s your shadow? Did you forget to stich her to your soles?” She was obviously referring to Hannah’s best friend Barbara, since they were rarely seen apart from each other.

“She’s busy.” Hannah answered courtly, unamused by the American’s jokes. “And anyways, I wanted to talk to you.” She then sat down next to Amanda, which piqued the other girl’s interest. This was new.

“’bout what?” Amanda asked, finally opening her eyes and eyeing her with barely dissimulated curiosity.

“Well…” Hannah started, but then frowned as she looked down at the grass. After a moment she nervously started to pull it off the ground like it had personally offended her. “I just… uhm.” She grimaced, and Amanda had to fight the urge to tease her for looking so uncomfortable, least she decided to leave without giving her any more information. “Y-you like girls, right?” She finally said, averting her gaze.

Amanda felt her heart skip a beat with something akin to anticipation and hope. Sure, she had many admirers, but most of them were straight, and those who weren’t usually already were in a relationship, or just weren’t Amanda’s type. So the possibility of her being liked by someone else, someone _new_ she hadn’t even considered, was nice. Plus, Hannah was one of the most beautiful girls in the school and also very feminine, which was a good contrast to Amanda’s more masculine attitude… even if her bitchy personality could be a problem.

Still, the redhead had to tell herself to calm down and not get her hopes too high, reasoning Hannah probably wasn’t about to ask her out… right?

“Uh… yeah? Why do you…?” Amanda cleared her throat when she felt her voice cracking a bit with nervousness. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s just… you see, I…” Hannah blushed, again resorting to torture the poor grass in an attempt to calm down. “I like a boy.”

“Okay?” Well, now Amanda was more confused than ever before. That wasn’t what she’d expected her to say _at all_.

“I don’t know who he is though; I only have his picture and I _need_ to find him!” She pretty much whined.

“And why come to me?” Amanda raised an eyebrow. “I’m the gayest girl in this academy, so literally anyone else would be a better choice for seeking boy advice. Barbara, for example.”

“I already asked her.” Hannah explained, her shoulders tensing in frustration. “And Diana too, but they’ve never seen him! And I don’t want to ask anyone else because I’m afraid they’ll steal him from me.”

“So you came to me because you know I’m gay and I wouldn’t be interested.” Amanda said, figuring out the rest. Hannah just nodded, at least having the decency to look a little bit ashamed. “Alright.” The American sighed, sitting up and extending her hand towards the other girl. “Let me see this guy who’s handsome enough to make you resort to such extremes to find him.”

Hannah immediately reached into her pocket and pulled a folded photo out of it before placing it on Amanda’s waiting hand. The redhead unfolded it with utter disinterest and looked into it… only to find something she _really_ hadn’t been expecting. _At all._ Not even in her wildest dreams.

It was a picture of herself dressed like a boy. She vaguely remembered Akko having taken it during the past summer break at the request of some of Amanda’s fans, but she never imagined _Hannah_ of all people would have one. And besides, if she had been the one to ask Akko for a picture of Amanda dressed like a boy, she wouldn’t be searching for this “handsome guy”, right? So…

“W-where did you get this?” Amanda asked nervously, her cheeks blushing brightly.

“I don’t know.” Hannah huffed in annoyance. “It just appeared one day inside my drawer, during the past summer break.”

“R-right.” Of course she didn’t remember anything! How many times had time been reset? She’d have to ask Akko later how on Earth had Hannah England of all people came into possession of one of those photos. For now though, she had a heart to break.

“You’re blushing.” Hannah commented, wearing an odious smirk. “Is he handsome enough to turn the self-proclaimed gayest girl in school straight?” She teased.

“Heck no!” Amanda immediately answered, absolutely offended Hannah was even suggesting that. But then she remembered the real reason she was blushing (a.k.a. Hannah having a crush on _her_ without even knowing it) and had to deviate her gaze and clear her throat in order to speak as normally as possible. “The real reason I’m blushing is…” She sighed. Poor Hannah, she didn’t want to do this, but she knew it was necessary. “I know who he is.”

“Really?!” Hannah asked, coming dangerously close to the other girl, as her entire face lighted up in happiness and stars practically shined on her eyes.

“Y-yeah…” Wow, Hannah looked so beautiful when she was smiling like that, without any malice. How had she never noticed before? Oh right! Because she was a bitch.

_Okay O'Neill focus; just take a deep breath and tell her the bad news. The sooner the better._

“H-he… he's…”

“Wait, don’t tell me!” Hannah interrupted her. “He’s your brother, right?!”

“Huh?” Okay, this was getting out of control.

“I knew it!” Hannah yelled, practically radiating excitement and happiness. “You both have the same dumb hair, but it looks wickedly good on him.”

“Hey!”

“I’m sorry, O'Neill, but it’s the truth.” The girl answered, condescendingly patting her shoulder. “You’re really not my type.” Well, now that hurt... why did it hurt? “Will you give me his number?” Hannah kept asking without giving her a moment to answer. “Better yet, will you give him _my_ number? I want him to ask me out! Just tell him a beautiful girl is interested in him and, if he’s smart, he’ll take the chance.”

_Okay, this is too much, you have to say something!_

“Wait… he’s single, right? Well, if he isn’t just tell him to break up with her. I’m sure I’m a better option anyways.”

_Freaking say something Amanda! It’s not that hard._

“He’s single.” Amanda managed to croak out somehow.

_Not that!_

“Perfect!” Hannah answered with a wide grin. “Then just give him my number, will you?”

_Tell her! Tell her!_

“S-sure.” If Amanda could move a muscle she probably would have slapped herself in that moment, but she seemed to have turned into stone.

“Thank you!” Hannah exclaimed, practically throwing herself at her in an enthusiastic hug. And sure, Amanda had hugged tons of pretty girls before, but as she inhaled Hannah's scent and felt the heat of her body pressed against her, she felt something… _different._ Was it because she knew Hannah liked her male alter-ego? Or was it something more?

Either way, she didn’t have much time to reflect on that, since Hannah quickly let go of her and pulled a pen out of her pocket, instantly taking Amanda’s hand and scribbling something on it. The feeling of the pen against her skin gave Amanda the good kind of chills for some reason.

“Here’s my number.” Hannah said once she finished writing it down. “Please give it to him a soon as possible, okay? I can’t wait to hear his voice!” The poor American girl could only nod in response, absolutely overwhelmed because of what was happening. “You’re the best!” She said as she hugged her again (damn, Hannah was awfully touchy that day, which was absolutely _not_ helping her gay brain), but this time she got up as she let go of her and practically ran away radiating an aura of excitement, which was honestly odd on her. A good odd. Adorable even.

Amanda watched her go feeling very conflicted, especially when she looked down at the numbers written on her palm in perfect penmanship.

“Fuck.” She could only say as she let herself fall back to the ground.

_Just what did I get myself into?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this little Hamanda thing that's been on my mind for a while now, and that you leave a review or favorite/follow if you did. I'll be updating this weekly, so keep an eye for that.
> 
> Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.


	2. One day my prince will call

**Chapter 2: One day my prince will call.**

Hannah was ecstatic when she walked into her room. She barely paid attention to her surroundings as she flopped down on her bed with a dreamy sigh. Yes! She’d finally found him… or at least knew who he was. Amanda’s brother, huh? It made sense; they did look eerily similar. There was still the mystery of how had she come into possession of his picture, but that was a question for another time. Right now, she just had to relax and wait for her cellphone to ring. Granted, she wasn’t supposed to have a cellphone in the school, but fuck it; it’s not like some non-wizard boy could send her an owl.

Wait… he wasn’t a wizard, right? Not that it would be a problem if he was, but she figured Amanda would have mentioned something. Plus, wizards tended to be too arrogant and think of themselves as better than witches, so she would very much prefer a non-magical boyfriend. That said, if _he_ had magic, she was willing to tolerate it.

Now there was just the question of if he would call. After all, why would such a handsome guy bother with some random girl he didn’t know? Yes, she was pretty, but he didn’t know that, and she doubted _Amanda_ would say nice things about her. Maybe she should have asked for his number and called him herself after all, but then she’d just look like a desperate stalker, so… she sighed again.

_Come on Hannah, be patient. He’ll call if he knows what’s best for him._

Suddenly the door opened and in came her best friend Barbara… with Lotte trailing close behind her. They were chatting and laughing amongst each other like _they_ were best friends, an increasingly common sight these days. But then again, she couldn’t really blame Barbara when she had said so many depreciating things about people who read Nightfall without knowing her friend practically lived for that thing.

She still thought it was garbage, but if her friend liked it, she wasn’t going to criticize it out loud anymore, or at least not as much. Yet, she couldn’t be like Lotte, who knew all the many different subplots and who had kissed who how many times, and could even tell you almost chapter by chapter what happened in every single volume. Heck, she even knew which characters were inspired by real life people and which were inspired by other works of fiction! There was even a new character in the latest book that had been inspired by Barbara herself. That was crazy! But her friend loved to talk about that sort of stuff, to the point it felt like she spent more time with Lotte than with Hannah lately, and the hazel-eyed girl didn’t like that.

She felt empty without Barbara, like she was missing something as intimately connected with her as her arm. But ultimately she didn’t want to be selfish and demand Barbara to spend all of her time with her instead of going to have fun with Lotte. That wouldn’t be fair, and she _did_ want her friend to be happy… she just felt alone without her. Which is why she _really_ needed to get a boyfriend; Hannah absolutely hated being alone.

But anyways, Barbara and Lotte came to a stop as they noticed Hannah, who sat up on her bed and greeted them with a forced smile.

“Hey girls, what’s up? How is Akko doing?” She asked.

“She’s fine.” Lotte answered with that characteristic kind smile of hers. “The nurse already dismissed her, and now she’s having dinner with Diana, who so kindly volunteered to look out for her while she’s still disoriented.” She then turned to Barbara and shoot her a look that Hannah wasn’t sure how to interpret, but her friend squealed in response and smiled excitedly.

“Just like volume 8!” She mouthed.

Hannah rolled her eyes. Of course everything had to be related to Nightfall somehow! Honestly, those two…

“Anyways…” Barbara cleared her throat, trying to compose herself a bit. “How did your talk with Amanda go? Did you find your _prince charming?_ ” She sat down on the bed in front of hers, eager to hear every single detail. Yet, Hannah hesitated as she looked at Lotte, who had sat herself next to her friend.

“Oh, don’t worry about Lotte!” Barbara reassured her. “I already told her everything and she’s promised not to tell a soul.”

“But if you’re uncomfortable, I could just leave you two alone.” Lotte hesitated, probably noticing Hannah’s reluctance.

“Nonsense! We’re friends, so we share our secrets, right Hannah?” Barbara stepped in before Hannah had a chance to take Lotte's suggestion. And now she couldn’t protest without sounding like a bitch. And she _had_ promised everyone she would try to be more polite, so…

 _Whatever_. _It’s not like such a handsome guy would be interested in a nerdy girl like Lotte._

“Alright, if you really wish to know, I did find out who he is.” She smirked, teasing her friend by not revealing the information.

“And?” Barbara prompted after a few seconds. “Who is he? Come on, you can’t just leave me hanging like that!”

“Amanda’s brother.” She shrugged, trying to act casually, but the giddy smile on her face betrayed her true feelings.

“Eeehh?!” Two equal surprised shrieks were heard.

“I didn’t know she had a brother.” Lotte said after she recovered slightly from the initial shock.

“Me neither, but it’s a good thing she doesn’t talk about him or half the school would already be after him.” Hannah answered.

“Are you gonna call him?” Barbara asked, a big smile plastered on her face, like she was watching the best romance movie of all times unfold right in front of her eyes.

“Of course not.” Hannah huffed. “ _He_ is gonna call _me_.” When she was met with two confused stares, she clarified. “I gave Amanda my number.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to ask Amanda for his number?” Lotte asked, confused.

“I don’t want to seem desperate.” Hanna practically rolled her eyes.

“But what if he doesn’t call you?” Barbara questioned.

“He will.” She answered with finality, hoping to look more confident than she felt.

“But…” Barbara’s protest was cut off when, as if on cue, Hannah’s phone started ringing with the sound of _Ready for it?_ By Taylor Swift, surprising the three girls.

With shaky hands, Hannah took the device and peered at the screen, feeling as butterflies appeared on her stomach when she realized she didn’t have that number registered.

“Told you!” She smirked, trying not let her nerves show as she got up from the bed and walked towards the balcony in order to have some sort of privacy. Gosh, she really hoped it was him!

“H-hello?” She stuttered as she pressed the answer button.

_Damnit Hannah, don’t show him that you’re nervous!_

“Hi. Is this Hannah’s number?” A voice responded. It was a bit high pitched for belonging to a teenage boy, but not really high enough to be feminine. Hannah decided that she liked it.

“Yes. Who’s calling?” She tried to sound disinterested, but really she was about to burst from happiness on the inside.

“Amanda… uh… Amanda’ _s_ brother.”

Hannah covered the phone briefly with her hand as she let out a little squeak of happiness and gave Barbara and Lotte a thumbs up, which they answered with excited smiles.

Then, she brought the phone to her ear again, just in time to hear him speak.

“A little birdie told me you wanted to ask me out on a date?” Now he just sounded arrogant. How dare he?!

“Well, she told you wrong.” Hannah huffed. “I want you to ask _me_ out on a date.”

“My, you sure must think you’re pretty if you speak like that.” He chuckled.

“Please, I don’t think I’m pretty; I _am_ pretty.”

“We’ll see.” Hannah could practically hear his smirk, no doubt as odious as that of his idiot sister. But he was handsome, so she was willing to let it slide. “What about Saturday around two? Wear something casual.”

_Casual? Come on! I wanted to see him on a suit. But okay. He asked me out, which is what matters._

“Fine.” She answered courtly. “You better be punctual though, or I’ll leave.”

“Sure thing, see you later _Hannah_.” And with that he hung up without even waiting for an answer, which was just rude! But whatever, she had gotten what she wanted, and was going to go out on a date with a handsome guy. Plus, she really liked the way he said her name; it sounded good with his American accent.

But speaking about names… damn. She’d forgotten to ask for his. Oh well, she could always do that on Saturday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was chapter 2, and yes it's a bit early because I may not have time to upload tomorrow. I hope you're liking this story so far because things will just get grazier and crazier as we go!
> 
> So, anyways, thanks for readying and thank you all for your comments and contnstructive criticism. I really do read and appreciate them all, even if I may not have time to answer, so please don't forget to leave a review :D
> 
> Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.


	3. The first date

**Chapter 3: The first date.**

Amanda fiddled nervously with her flannel shirt as she waited next to the Leyline. She had texted Hannah the previous day telling her where they'd meet, and had decided to suggest this particular location because, even if Hannah didn't know it, it was more convenient for both of them.

She still didn't know what on Earth had possessed her into asking Hannah out on a date when her original intention had been to just call her to clarify the misunderstanding. She reasoned that she just regretted it last second because it wasn't something that should be said over the phone, but deep down she knew that she was lying; why couldn't she just tell her at school, after all?

No, the truth was that she wanted a girlfriend, and for some stupid reason her heart was telling her Hannah was the best option even if, rationally, it seemed like the worst idea ever.

Like, come on! Since when was Amanda into mean rich girls that also happened to be straight?!

Since Wednesday, apparently.

Still, she was many things, but a liar wasn't one of them, and she wasn't going to base her incipient relationship with Hannah on a lie that would undoubtedly hurt the auburn haired girl if she let it live for too long. No, Amanda O'Neill was a woman of principles, one that would never hurt a girl if she could help it, a brave woman that would just tell her the truth as soon as came from the Leyline! See? She was even dressed like a woman and everything!

So yes, she would be brave, tell her the truth, and if she wasn't interested then too bad… she'd just find someone else.

And she'd try to ignore the painful tug she felt in her heart every time she imagined Hannah rejecting her. A feeling that would no doubt be amplified ten times if she were to experience it in real life. Which she hoped to avoid at all costs.

Suddenly, a flash of light shone from the Leyline portal as someone came through it, and Amanda instinctively hid behind the station, peering with only one eye to try and see who had come in exactly at 2 PM.

Her heart skipped a beat as soon as she caught a glimpse of that characteristic yellow bow on her date's hair, and blood rushed to her cheeks when she realized she was wearing a matching yellow summer dress printed with a pattern of colorful butterflies that appeared to fly from the bottom to the top, where they dispersed. She was so used to seeing the girl in the school uniform and without any makeup, that she was severely caught off-guard.

Her little gay heart definitely wasn't prepared for this! And definitely not for the cute smile that adorned her face as she walked outside the station, or the way her eyes shone as she looked around for her, only for her expression to fall slightly when she found no one in sight.

No, she couldn't do this. She couldn't tell her the truth yet. All Hannah wanted was a date with a handsome guy, and she could give it to her damnit! They could get to know each other better, and interact in a more amicable manner. If at the end they realized it didn't work, then she'd just say so and Hannah wouldn't see her male alter-ego ever again. And if everything went right, then… well… she supposed she would have to tell her the truth.

 _Fuck. I'm so stupid._ Amanda thought as she got out her wand and casted the spell. _This is such a terrible idea._

Hannah stepped out of the Leyline terminal and looked around, searching for her handsome prince… and was disappointed when she was greeted with only the bare English grasslands that separated the town from the terminal. She furrowed her eyebrows as she checked the clock. Yes, as she expected, she'd arrived just in time, and it was extremely inconsiderate from Amanda's brother to keep her waiting. That said, for _him_ she could wait a couple more minutes, if anything because he wasn't a witch and couldn't just fly there.

That was her train of thought when she was very rudely distracted as an upside down rose appeared in front of her face and started moving from side to side. She frowned and swatted it away as she turned around… only to be met with the most wonderful thing she'd ever seen: the boy from the picture standing mere inches away from her and sporting a smug smile that somehow looked good on him. She lost herself in his bright green eyes, and found herself mesmerized by his pinkish red and orange hair. He was wearing simple jeans and a green plaid shirt, somehow managing to rock the casual style almost as much as the suit he was wearing on the picture, but most importantly of all, Hannah couldn't help but notice how he towered over her.

"You're so tall!" She gasped, completely forgetting to close her mouth after talking, or any other standard greeting protocol for that matter. In that moment, her brain was starting to shock-circuit.

"And you're so short." He teased, gently patting her head, a gesture that finally snapped Hannah out of her trance.

"H-hey! That's rude!" She protested, taking a step back as she felt her entire face heating up to a degree she had never reached before.

"Sorry, sorry." He raised his hands in surrender, but he didn't look very apologetic when he was still laughing. "I hope this makes it up for it." He then presented the rose to Hannah again, this time in a much more proper manner, and the girl nearly fainted on the spot. A handsome guy had just given her a rose! Holy…!

"Thanks." She could only say as she took it, blushing even more if possible. Then she remembered something. "Uh… I don't know your name?" She said it more like a question.

"And yet I know yours, Hannah England." He smirked, still purposefully withholding the information from her, no doubt just to tease her. How could she find that infuriating and cute at the same time?!

"Are you going to tell me or should I just call you dumb-American-number-two?" Hannah scoffed, falling back to her bullying attitude out of nervousness.

"Amanda is number one?" He chuckled, raising an eyebrow, and Hannah simply answered with a nod. "Sounds fitting." He shrugged.

"Oh, come on! Just tell me your name!" Hannah exclaimed, starting to lose her patience.

"Oh, I've got a name. And it's a boy's name too."

"Are you called Ping?" Hannah deadpanned.

"Oh! You got that reference!" He smiled, happily surprised.

"What. Is. Your. Name?" Hannah gritted her teeth. Jeez, he was as handsome as he was infuriating.

"Hey! Did you know there's a Japanese movie called that? Kimi no na wa, I think." He avoided the question one more time.

"If you don't tell me your name I'm gonna leave now." Hannah threatened. "One, two…"

"Wait." He panicked. "My name is Arthur." He finally revealed. "I'm sorry, I just…" He deviated his gaze. "I tend to become more teasing than usual when I'm nervous. Sorry."

His cheeks acquired a rosy tint to them that Hannah thought made him look absolutely adorable. But still, she was going to make him pay nonetheless.

"Do I make you nervous?" She was the one doing the teasing now.

"Not _you_ particularly." He tried to amend, but ended up blushing even more. "Just dates. With pretty girls."

"So you _do_ think I'm pretty." She smirked, still teasing him even though she was bursting from happiness on the inside.

"Ah… well, yes?" He answered, still nervously avoiding her gaze. "I'd have to be blind not to notice." He chuckled. "And besides, Amanda did say you were beautiful, and I knew she wasn't lying because we have the same taste when it comes to women."

"Amanda said something nice about me?" Hannah exclaimed.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" He asked.

"Ah… well, we're not exactly friends." She answered hesitantly, after all, she didn't want to make it sound like she didn't get along with his sister, but she didn't want to lie either.

"You should try talking to her more often. She's quite pleasant to be around." He suggested.

"Maybe." Hannah shrugged, but still considered his words. Perhaps she could get to know him better if she talked to Amanda, and besides, as Diana kindly reminded her every single day, she needed to be more open and talk more with their new friends. But whatever. That was a thought for another time. Right now, she had a date with a handsome boy. Arthur. Like the king of legend. How fitting!

"So… where are you going to take me?" She asked.

"It's a surprise." He smirked as he offered her his arm to take, something she gladly did almost immediately, blushing when she felt his _very_ firm muscles underneath his shirt.

"I hope it's up to my standards." She huffed, trying to cover up her nervousness.

"Tell me, my lady, is _this_ up to your standards?" Arthur asked as he led her inside a restaurant. It was small and made almost entirely of polished wood, overall the appearance was rather humble and there weren't many costumers, and it smelled of grilled meat and ketchup. What really caught Hannah's attention though, was the _giant_ American flag that hung proudly on the back wall.

"It's too… _American._ " She decided, scrunching her nose.

"Well, so am I, and yet I'm up to your standards." He shrugged.

"What makes you think that?" Hannah asked, glaring at her date.

"Well, you _did_ ask me out on a date." Arthur smirked.

"I did not such thing!" Hannah exclaimed, offended.

"You asked my sister to ask me to ask you out on a date." Arthur deadpanned. "I don't see the difference."

"Shut up!" Hannah blushed as she pretty much stumped inside the place towards one of the booths. "Come on, you chav, get here so we can start our date."

"Chav?" He raised an eyebrow. "Man, I feel so insulted right now." Irony was dripping from his voice as he sat down in front of Hannah.

"Well, I'm sorry our insults aren't quite as crude as yours." Hannah huffed. "We, unlike Americans, are a refined society."

"Too refined, maybe." Arthur muttered, taking the menu as he started to scan it with his bright green eyes with a nonchalant expression and a mischievous smile that seemed to be the default on his face. Honestly, Hannah barely even glanced at the menu before realizing it was full of different types of hamburgers and milkshakes and that she had no idea what to order, since she'd never ate something quite as… _American_ as that. She then decided she'd eat whatever Arthur did, if anything to see if he had good taste.

Soon the waiter came to take their orders and, once he was gone, Arthur rested his elbows in the table and placed his chin on the bridge formed by his hands, giving Hannah a smile that she wasn't sure if it was _meant_ to be teasing or was just his usual smile.

"So… Hannah. Tell me about yourself." He requested.

"What do you want to know?" She then asked, knowing she'd probably just ramble for hours if he didn't specify, and the last thing she wanted was to bore him with her whole life story.

"Dunno." He shrugged. "Do you often ask random guys out on dates?"

"W-what? No!" Hannah pretty much squeaked, blushing in embarrassment at the way that sounded.

"Am I the only one then? Man, I feel special." Arthur smirked, teasing as ever.

"Ugh! Men are impossible!" Hannah complained as she buried her (very red) face between her hands.

"Maybe date a girl then?" Arthur hen asked, probably still wanting to infuriate her.

"Ew. No." The auburn haired girl responded automatically, scrunching up her eyebrows in disgust.

"Heh. I take it you're straight then?" He chuckled.

"Of course." She answered, rolling her eyes. "I assume you are too?" Hannah then asked hesitantly. Sure, he had asked her out, and he did appear to be masculine, but there was also something feminine about him that made some doubts enter her mind.

"I'm a lesbian." He responded as he nonchalantly placed his hands behind his head.

"You can't be a lesbian; you're a man." Hannah deadpanned.

"Well…" He hummed as he seemed to think over how to answer. "If I was a woman in the body of a man then I'd be a lesbian."

"Are you?" She questioned, unsure how she'd respond to a positive answer. Because, wouldn't going out with a trans woman technically make her gay, even if said woman had been born in the body of a man?

"No. Not really." He laughed. "I just wanted to see your reaction. Gosh, you looked so confused for a second."

"Hey! That's very impolite!" Hannah slapped his shoulder.

"Ow! Okay, sorry." He pouted, which made him look impossibly adorable in Hannah's eyes. "Anyways, next question…"

"It's my turn." Hannah cut him off.

"Are we doing turns now?"

"What's your favorite color?" She ignored him.

"Really?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, an expression that somehow managed to look surprisingly handsome on him even if it irritated Hannah to no end when it was directed at her.

"Just answer." She huffed.

"Yellow." He said, and Hannah gave him an unbelieving look, considering what she was currently wearing. "Yeah… I knew I didn't have a chance as soon as I saw that big yellow bow on your head."

"I hope it wasn't just the bow."

"Nah… it was also the dress." He laughed, which earned him yet another blow of Hannah's fist just as the waiter arrived with their orders: two pretty big and greasy hamburgers (in Hannah's opinion) and two strawberry milkshakes.

"This will definitely earn me a few pounds." Hannah muttered to herself as she made a face but started cutting up her hamburger using fork and knife.

"Chill out, princess." Arthur said before taking a sip from his milkshake. "I think you could afford to gain some weight and would still look hot as hell."

"Yeah, you say that now." She smiled and rolled her eyes, not believing him for one second. "Wait till the scale breaks under my weight."

"I'll be sure to buy you another." He winked playfully. "But anyways, I believe it's my turn to ask."

"Sure, go ahead." Hannah encouraged, surprisingly enjoying his childish antics.

"What do you do in your free time?" The little witch just snorted when she heard him. Had he really made fun of her question only to ask another one that was just as cliché? Come on! Still, she supposed it was fair to answer honestly.

"Dancing."

As soon as the word left her mouth, Arthur started coughing violently trying to get the milkshake out of his lungs as he looked at her with wide eyes.

"What?" Hannah blushed, confused by the response. "It's not weird to like dancing!"

"N-no…" He coughed again, his voice still sounding strained because of the near-chocking experience. "I'm sorry, it's just…" He blushed, averting his gaze in a sheepish manner that made Hannah want to hug him and never let go. Thankfully she was a well-mannered lady and would therefore never do that…in public. "I-I like dancing too." He finally admitted, and it was pretty lucky for Hannah not to be drinking anything at the moment or she would have spit it all out.

"Wait… REALLY?!" She loudly exclaimed once she recovered, earning her a few weird glances from the other costumers, but she honestly couldn't care less. After all, it was very rare to find a boy that not only knew how to dance but also _enjoyed_ it.

"Y-yeah…" He scratched the back of her head nervously, still avoiding her gaze. "I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I'm pretty good at it." He shoot her a hesitant smile. "If you want I could show you later?"

"I'd love that." She answered sincerely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so there you have it! The first real interaction between Hannah and "Arthur" (Did you notice the scene where they meet is the cover for the fanfic?). I hope you had fun reading this little thing, and that you leave a comment/kudos if that's the case. Anyways, thanks for reading and see you next week :)
> 
> Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.


	4. A dance for two useless fools

**Chapter 4: A dance for two useless fools.**

After finishing their hamburgers (and Hannah hesitantly admitting American food wasn't as bad as she'd feared, and getting endlessly teased by Arthur for it) they decided to go to a place Arthur said he visited often, where he liked to dance. Hannah wasn't exactly sure as to what she was expecting upon hearing his suggestion, but it definitely wasn't _this_.

And by _this_ of course she meant a shithole of sweaty bodies, alcohol and loud music that was usually referred to as…

"A _club?!_ " She pretty much shrieked. "Really?!"

"What? Is it too much for you, princess?" He smirked.

"I'm sixteen!" She tried to reason.

"So am I." He scoffed. "And I come here all the time."

Why was she even surprised? He was a rebel _and_ a boy. Of course he got into clubs illegally! Didn't mean she was going to do the same.

"Well, unlike you, _I_ respect the law." Hannah answered as she crossed her arms over her chest with an air of finality.

"It's not like we're going to get drunk." He rolled his eyes. "Or even drink alcohol for that matter. Just dancing, okay? I promise." Arthur then shot her one of his non-teasing smiles that made him look so much more handsome and adorable at the same time that just… ugh! That smile should come with a warning!

"I don't know, Arthur." Hannah tried to resist, but it was proving to be very difficult when the one asking had such dreamy green eyes that made her want to get lost in them. "I just don't think it's a good idea."

"Are you scared?" He teased.

"What? Of course not!" She answered defensively, but deep down she knew she actually _was._ She was scared of someone finding out she was underage and getting her in trouble or maybe even arrested. She was scared of drunk people because she didn't' know what to expect from them. She was scared of drinking something non-alcoholic and still getting drugged or something, and she was definitely scared of someone groping her in the chaos that was the dancefloor. But there was no way she was ever going to admit that to Arthur. He'd probably think she was silly.

"Hey." He said, gently grabbing her chin and making her look up. A gesture so intimate it made Hannah's heart skip a beat before doing summersaults inside her chest. "It's okay if you're scared." He said tenderly, his eyes being so gentle and soft and beautiful, Hannah could only stare. "I'll protect you." Arthur then put an arm around her shoulders, bringing them so close together that Hannah could smell his cologne. It was citric, and she decided she liked it. And the closeness itself was nice. Her whole body suddenly felt too warm.

"Y-you will?" She somehow managed to croak out.

"Yep! I'll be by your side all the time." He assured her.

"Even when I go to the bathroom?" She joked, trying to ease up this strange tension she was feeling between them. It wasn't a _bad_ tension exactly, but it was new and unexpected, so it scared her.

"Even when you go to the bathroom." He reiterated laughing, and she joined in, surprised at how he managed to ease her doubts with just a few words. He was truly something.

"Alright then, you win." She agreed against her better judgement.

"Let's go" He nodded, letting her arm drop off her shoulders only to then grab her hand instead, leading her into the club.

The club, unlike what Hannah expected, wasn't very crowded, probably because it was still early. However, the music _was_ pretty loud and it definitely wasn't the type she was used to listening. Between the lack of windows or air conditioning the air was sweltering, and the smell was… not the best.

Still, she tried to focus solely on the contact of her hand against Arthur's, which was surprisingly warm and pleasant, even though it felt calloused. She found herself enjoying the feel of her hand in his quite a lot, even though it was only meant to keep her safe and close as promised.

"Dave! Dave, man! Over here!" Arthur yelled as he tried to catch the attention of the DJ once they got close enough. Dave was a skinny guy, though quite tall, and had blonde hair and freckles. He was dressed with a simple black t-shirt with was probably a logo of a band, as well as oversized blue jeans. Hannah wasn't really surprised that Arthur knew him; after all he had admitted coming here frequently to dance.

"Well, hi! How have you been, bro?" Dave asked as he saw Arthur approach, lowering his headphones so he could hold a proper conversation. "It's been so long! I was starting to worry you had gone back to America."

"Only for summer break." Arthur shrugged. "I'm back though, and this time I brought a lady." He tugged on her hand to make her get closer (she had purposefully stayed slightly behind, since she was unsure of what to do). Then, he proudly put his arm around her shoulders, making Hannah blush brightly. "This is Hannah, my date."

"Finally!" Dave laughed. "No offense girl, but you have awful taste." He told Hannah. "Whatever did you see on this clown?"

"Hey!" Arthur protested, feigning anger. "What are you talking about? I'm a freaking girl magnet, bro!" Then he turned to Hannah and pretended to whisper on her ear, though he had to shout in order to be listened through the loud music. "He's just jealous because he can't get a girlfriend." Hannah giggled at Dave's indignant expression despite herself. She found watching her date interacting with one of his friends to be quite an interesting experience.

"Anyways, I was hoping you could help me out here?" Arthur then asked the DJ. "I wanted to show Hannah some of my best dance moves."

"Ah, so you want me to play your favorite songs." Dave smiled knowingly.

"Please? You'd be doing me a huge favor." Arthur shoot him his best pleading smile.

"Well, since it's still early, I guess I could do that." He agreed. "But don't think you're not paying for my drinks later!"

"You got it bro!" Arthur shoot him finger guns and then turned around, leading Hannah back to the dance floor just as the current song was ending.

"So, he seemed… interesting." Hannah commented, not knowing what else to say to break the silence. Arthur just laughed as he came to a stop and positioned himself in front of Hannah.

"Sure, interesting. I bet you really meant to say something a lot less nice." He answered, but before Hannah could protest he cut her off raising up one hand. "It's okay. I can tell he's not exactly the type of guy you are used to interacting with."

"Neither are you." Hannah responded with a giggle as she took Arthur's raised hand and stepped a bit closer.

"Is that a good thing?" He smirked, pulling her closer by her waist.

"Maybe." She teased as she placed her free hand on his shoulder, but really, the blush on her cheeks betrayed her true feelings about him, which made Arthur giggle too.

Just then the music picked up a bit as the song truly started. Hannah had never heard it, and she couldn't quite recognize the genre, but it sounded like something from more tropical countries. Salsa, maybe? Or cumbia? Perhaps something entirely different. She had no idea, but dancing was dancing, so it couldn't be that difficult, right?

Wrong.

Arthur instantly took the lead. He was confident in his steps and rhythm; he obviously knew how to dance to this type of music. On the other hand Hannah struggled to keep up with him, feeling like a fish out of water. She even managed to step on his toes!

"Sorry." She blushed, not liking that she was making a fool of herself.

"It's okay. I can already see this isn't something you are new to." He reassured her. "But just relax, okay? Try to follow me and listen to the music. I don't care if you don't do it perfectly."

"Okay." She nodded, but her cheeks still felt rather warm. Partially because she was embarrassed for her clumsiness and partially because of how close she was to Arthur. "Maybe you can teach me a bit?" She suggested. "That way I won't hold you back."

"I mean, I could…" Arthur hummed, considering his options. "But Hannah, you _really_ need to loosen up."

"What do you mean?" She asked, frowning slightly.

"I mean that you're always so stiff and following the rules and whatnot…" He trailed off, noticing the growing scowl on Hannah's face. "I just think you should let yourself go, not caring if you're doing it correctly if not."

"And make a fool of myself in front of you? No thank you!" She immediately replied, letting go of him to cross her arms over her chest indignantly.

"Hannah! Come on, don't be like that!" Arthur pleaded. "We're just trying to have a good time, so there's no need to follow any kind of rules. Not even dancing rules." He chuckled. "And those are the only ones _I_ ever follow." When Hannah just kept glaring at him, he sighed. "Alright then, just watch."

And despite herself, Hannah watched as Arthur started dancing on his own, moving without any form of coherence, but just following the rhythm with his eyes closed. And even then… damn, she had to admit he looked good. Really good. Even if he _was_ making a fool of himself. Hannah could only let out a chuckle when she saw him performing the silly dance from Spiderman 3 that was a meme now in the internet.

"So… princess." He smiled once he heard her laughing. "Care to join me?"

"Stop, you look ridiculous!" Hannah said, trying to keep herself from laughing, but being unable to. Also, he looked very charming when he was doing that just to make her smile and 'loosen up' as he'd said.

"Then join me. That way we can be ridiculous together." He winked, extending his hand towards her, and before she could stop herself, her own hand had extended to meet his, making his smile widen. And honestly? That smile was almost worth what she was about to do. Almost.

Arthur then took her other hand and started moving, encouraging her to do the same, and poor Hannah being completely useless when it came to this very handsome and very charming boy, could only sigh and decide to indulge him for a while.

Yes, they were dancing. No, it wasn't remotely close to how these songs were supposed to be danced, Hannah was sure. But at the moment she didn't care. Because she had to admit that it was fun, and it also somehow felt very intimate; like they were making their own dance. A courting ball for two useless fools.

A few hours later they stepped out of the club, just as more people began to arrive and Hannah's curfew hour was approaching. Arthur had offered to walk her to the Leyline, and she accepted, wanting to spend as much time with him as possible because, honestly? At first she had some doubts, but now she was sure he was indeed the perfect man for her. Granted, she wouldn't admit it out loud.

They walked mostly in silence, just enjoying the calming breeze of the night and the choir of crickets that greeted them as soon as they stepped out of the town. However, Hannah was still glad when Arthur broke the silence, even if it was only to tease her.

"So… I thought you said you knew how to dance." He said. "It surely didn't seem like it back then." He laughed as Hannah punched his shoulder in retaliation.

"Well, I could say the same." She replied.

"I didn't want you to feel bad for not being a good dancer." He teased again, which earned him yet another punch from Hannah.

"I don't usually indulge myself in such… _common_ dances."

"Oh, I'm sorry princess. Next time I'll take you to a ballet." He rolled his eyes.

"Make sure you do." She joked.

"So there'll be a next time?" He asked hopefully, and honestly, how could she say no to that stupidly perfect face? Still, she decided to make him work for it.

"Maybe." She shrugged. "If you ask nicely."

A few seconds passed in silence, and as they kept walking Hannah started to fear he wasn't going to ask, but then suddenly she felt a hand taking her own, which made her heart do all sorts of funny things.

"Hannah…" His voice sounded husky as he whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her skin and making pleasant goosebumps appear all over her body. "Will you go on a second date with me?"

Hannah nearly fainted when literally all her blood rushed to her cheeks in a matter of seconds. And she could only burrow her face in his chest to hide her embarrassment, being too overwhelmed to even breathe, much less give him a proper answer.

"So… Next Saturday around midday?" He asked, and Hannah didn't have to look to know he was smiling. She could only nod in response. "Cool."

A few more seconds passed before he spoke again.

"… Are you going to let go of me now?" He sounded amused, but despite that, or perhaps _because_ of that, Hannah couldn't just step back and give him some space like a normal human being. She was still too overwhelmed and her cheeks were too red.

"Okay. I'm sure Finnelan won't mind if you arrive after curfew." He said nonchalantly, but his words felt like a cube of ice running down her spine, reminding her that she'd never gotten in trouble with the strict teacher before, and she definitely didn't want that night to be the first time.

"Shit." She cursed under her breath as she let go of him and practically ran the few meters that still separated them from the Leyline, only stopping once she reached the entrance and looking back to see that Arthur had followed her.

"Hannah, wait." He said as he caught up to her. "Before you go, there's something I need to do."

Hannah just kept staring at him expectantly, watching how he cleared his throat and looked to the side nervously, then rubbed the back of his neck and opened his mouth to say something, only to close it again a moment later and repeat the process.

And as cute as it was that he was hesitating, it was very apparent what he was trying to do. And all the waiting was making Hannah anxious! She swore if he didn't hurry up and kiss her, she'd take matters into her own hands! As unladylike as it was.

"Hannah… I-I… I want to…" Just when he was starting to speak, he was suddenly interrupted when a pair of hands tugged at the collar of his shirt before a pair of lips met his own. The contact itself only lasted a second, but the warm and pleasant sensation stuck with him as he stared at Hannah with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, you were taking too long." Hannah said as she pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and gave him a sheepish smile. "You _were_ trying to kiss me… right?" She asked once he kept staring at her like he couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Ah… I-I… no?" He mumbled, blushing brightly.

"Oh." Hannah blushed too when she realized she had pretty much threw herself at him.

"But it was… nice." He amended. "A-and I wouldn't mind doing it again." Arthur then shoot her a questioning glance, no doubt asking for permission. Her legs instantly turned to jelly and her mind shut off, but she still managed to give him a firm nod as an answer. "Okay."

Hesitantly, Arthur brought his hand up to her cheek and caressed it for barely a second, but it actually felt like an eternity as Hannah held her breath waiting for his next move and hearing her own heart beat loudly on her ears. Finally, he leaned in and touched her lips with his as they both closed their eyes.

This time it lasted far longer than the first time. Their lips moved in sync with each other as they made a dance of their own, one that Hannah had never experienced but had dreamt with many times. It was honestly different from what she thought it'd be. A good different. His lips were far softer and gentler than she'd expected, but at the same time they were passionate and made her whole body heat up like she was spontaneously combusting, which somehow felt good. Really, _really_ good. As in never-wanting-to-let-go good.

But like everything good in life, their kiss came to an end and Arthur stepped back, breathing heavily and with his cheeks so red they could probably match his hair. Hannah wasn't much better either.

"You should probably go now, if you don't want to get in trouble." He said, averting his gaze out of shyness.

"Y-yeah." She nodded before stepping inside the terminal and grabbing her broom from a wall of the stone structure. Just after getting in position to fly, however, she noticed Arthur had followed her and was now standing next to her… and his face was so close to hers she could feel his breath against her skin.

"Can I have another kiss before you go?" He asked shyly, and though he looked absolutely adorable, Hannah didn't want to make it easy for him. No, he had to work hard to get her, or else he wouldn't value her enough.

"Maybe next Saturday." She teased and then took off.

"I don't think I can wait that long, Hannah." Amanda sighed wistfully as the other witch took off, wondering what she was going to do now that she was head over heels for a straight girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's the end of the first date. Things will surely get more complicated now, for both of them. Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you liked this little cutesy piece, and if you did please leave a comment. I really do appreciate them a lot. So, thank you, and see you next Saturday!
> 
> Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.


	5. Amanda has an(other) stupid idea

**Chapter 5: Amanda has an(other) stupid idea.**

Akko was walking joyfully though one of the many corridors in Luna Nova, humming softly to herself and even skipping without noticing. She was indeed very happy, which by itself wasn't unusual on the cheerful witch, but this day in particular she appeared happier than usual; her smile was wider, her eyes brighter and her mirth more contagious. And it definitely had nothing to do with her just having spent half an hour talking with Diana. Nope. Not at all.

Anyways, she was just walking to her daily tutoring sessions with her favorite professor (yes, she even had those on Sundays), for once not getting into trouble just by breathing, when suddenly someone tugged on her arm and before she knew what was happening, she was pulled inside a broom closet, facing her attacker: none other than the devilish American girl herself, Amanda O'Neill.

"H-hey! What was that about?" Akko glared at her friend, who only shushed her in response.

"Akko, please, I need your help." Amanda said as she took her shoulders and shoot her a pleading look.

"I'm going to see Professor Ursula. Can't it wait until later?" Akko reasoned.

"Oh, come on, she can wait a couple of minutes." The orange-haired girl argued, rolling her eyes. And although Akko didn't particularly liked to make her sensei wait, especially because of how nice she always was to her, she supposed a couple of minutes weren't that big of a deal. After all, Ursula wasn't exactly punctual either, so…

"Alright, fine." Akko sighed. "What do you need my help with? This better not be another one of your stupid plans to steal useless stuff!"

"… Does a heart count?" Amanda laughed nervously, avoiding looking at Akko's eyes.

"… what?" The Japanese girl had to take a moment to figure out what Amanda was trying to say, since she first pictured her friend stealing a literal heart, kinda like Davy Jones' in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie (which honestly wouldn't even be that surprising considering they were in a magic school), but then she noticed the intense red color of her cheeks and the way she shyly avoided her gaze, and realized what she'd actually meant to say.

"Sweet Shiny Chariot! You have a crush on someone?!" The volume of Akko's voice made Amanda wince, and she had to shush her again, since she really didn't want her to shout her secrets for all the school to hear.

"Akko!" Amanda glared at her.

"Fine! Fine." Akko put up her hands in surrender and then made a zipping motion on her mouth. "Sorry, I just… I wasn't expecting that." She laughed. "Anyways, who's the lucky girl?"

"Hannah." She pretty much whispered, blushing brightly. Akko just blinked. Then she blinked again. Then her brain finally processed what her ears had heard and almost broke again.

"As in… Hannah England?!" She scream-whispered. "The Hannah England from the blue team?! Diana's friend?! _That_ Hannah England?!"

"Yeah… that's the one." Amanda winced, though that was pretty much the reaction she'd been expecting to be honest.

"Isn't she straight?" Akko reminded Amanda. And based on the pained look on Amanda's face, she was well aware of her current situation.

"Maybe." Amanda said uncertainty. "Maybe she's bi and doesn't know it."

"Amanda…"

"I know, I know." The American interrupted her before _Akko_ of all people could try to talk some sense into her. "But this is all your fault in the first place!"

"What? How is this my fault?!" Akko frowned.

"Do you remember you took pictures of me dressed as a boy last summer break?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you give one of those to Hannah?"

"Ah…" Akko deviated her gaze sheepishly. "Maybe… kinda… accidentally?" She finished as a question, giving Amanda an apologetic smile. "But I told her it was actually you in disguise and she said she was going to destroy it, so…" Akko trailed off, shrugging. Back then she hadn't thought it was that big of a deal.

"Well, turns out time was reset, so she doesn't remember what you told her, and now she has a crush on this handsome guy, who she thinks is my brother, and I _kinda_ went on a date with her and we kissed, and…"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Akko interrupted the flustered American. "Hold on. You… _kissed?"_ When she received a positive answer in the form of a nod, she continued asking, trying to understand all this nonsense. "But Hannah thinks she actually kissed your non-existing brother that was actually you in disguise?" Another sheepish nod. "For the Nine, Amanda! That's fucked up!"

"I didn't know you swear." The redhead noted.

"I don't, but _this…_ this is…" Akko trailed off, not even knowing what she wanted to say. To think Amanda would put herself in a situation like that… and she said _Akko_ was the dumb one?

"Look, I wasn't going to let it get this far." Amanda tried to defend herself when she saw the judging look her friend was giving her. "But things got out of control pretty fast, and now I have a crush on Hannah and… I don't know." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "I just don't know what to do."

"Maybe just tell her the truth?" Akko suggested. "With a little bit of luck she'll be merciful and give you a quick death."

"That's the worst idea ever!" Amanda protested.

"Why? Don't you want her to like _you_ instead of some imaginary brother you created?" Akko said, trying to make her see reason.

Amanda opened her mouth to protest once more, but then closed it. While her male alter-ego wasn't as different as her in terms of personality, he was still different in many other aspects, like his confidence while talking to a girl he liked, or his lack of magic. Not to mention his physical appearance, and the fact she'd likely have to make a backstory for him sooner rather than later, and it couldn't be the same as hers. Which was probably why, oddly enough, just thinking about Hannah liking Arthur instead of _her_ made her jealous, even if they were technically the same person.

But what if… no. It was too crazy. There was no way it'd work! And yet… it was worth a try. She had nothing to lose, right?

"Akko, I think I just had a brilliant idea!" Amanda exclaimed, placing her hands over her friend's shoulders once more.

"Oh no, what now?" Akko pretty much whined at the thought of having had a hand on making her friend think of yet another (probably stupid) plan.

"I'm going to make Hannah like me!" She explained. "I'll flirt with her, talk to her, spend time with her, and she'll eventually realize I'm better than Arthur and fall in love with me." She smiled, proud at her fool-proof plan. "And once she likes me, I'll tell her the truth and she won't kill me!"

"But what if she's straight? Then she'll never like you back." Akko argued.

"Actually, according to a study by the University of Essex, there's no straight girls; only bisexuals and lesbians." Amanda smirked, glad that she remembered that little piece of information.

"Well, _I_ am straight!" Akko countered.

"Right." The American rolled her eyes. "The way you ogle Cavendish's ass is totally platonic and has no sexual connotations whatsoever." She said sarcastically.

"I-I… I don't…" Akko tried to protest, but ended up blushing and covering her face in embarrassment. She'd thought she was being discreet!

"Ha! You can't even say that with a straight face."

"Very funny, Amanda." Akko deadpanned. "But even if I'm _maybe_ not as straight as I thought, that doesn't mean Hannah is bi."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right." The American conceded, though she didn't seem very concerned about that. "And if my plan fails and she doesn't end up liking me, I'll just tell her the truth, I promise."

"You know this can go horribly wrong, right?" Akko said, pleading to the Nine to help her convince the stubborn rebel.

"I know." She answered as a dreamy smile appeared on her face. "But she's worth it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is a very short chapter, but it's very important to set things into motion, so I hope you liked it anyways. Thanks for reading, and for all of you who commented or left kudos and see you next Saturday :D
> 
> Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.


	6. Hannah's sweetheart

**Chapter 6: Hannah's sweetheart.**

It was Monday morning when Hannah finally (finally!) got a hold of her best friend Barbara. Turns out, the previous day the raven haired witch had gone to watch the new Nightfall movie in a nearby theater. With Lotte, of course. And afterwards the two witches had spent a whole evening criticizing the many things the movie had gotten wrong… but praising their choice of casting. Apparently they'd really nailed both Edgar and Arthur, and after seeing the pictures Hannah had to admit they were alright. Not as handsome as _her_ Arthur though.

Speaking of which, she really needed to tell Barbara everything about her date with the devilish American. Preferentially when Lotte wasn't around. But she'd do it with the Finnish girl present if she must; she supposed she was starting to become a constant in their lives and she'd have to accept her as a part of their duo… trio? Quartet, if they counted Diana? Whatever! It was breakfast time, which meant gossip time, with or without Lotte! And without Diana, it seemed… where had she gone? Well, it was probably for the best; she doubted _Diana_ would be interested in her romantic life anyways.

"Girls." Hannah called her friend and Lotte. Her _friends_. Plural. Right. She'd have to get used to that.

"Uhm? What is it, Hannah?" Barbara answered, as the three set their trays on an empty table at the cafeteria. The other members of the red team, as well as the green team would probably be joining them soon, however, so she had to be quick and give them the summarized version, though she'd _definitely_ tell Barbara the full version after classes. If she could get her alone somehow, that is.

"Do you remember that I went on a date with Amanda's brother last Saturday?"

"Oh, yeah! How did that go?" Barbara asked happily, while Lotte fixed her gaze on her mashed potatoes, like she'd suddenly find them to be super interesting. Weird. But well, Hannah didn't mind if she didn't exactly participate in the conversation.

"Amazing!" Hannah responded without missing a beat. "He's so handsome in person! And cute! And charming! And…!" She was interrupted by Barbara's laughter.

"You got it bad, didn't you?" Her friend asked, still giggling.

"Shut up!" Hannah answered defensively, but she couldn't stop the blood from rushing to her cheeks. "You'd be just as infatuated if you had gone on a date with Arthur."

"Arthur?" Lotte perked up at this. "That's his name?"

"Yes?" Hannah said, not getting what the big deal was, but judging by how Barbara was looking at Lotte, she knew what the Finnish girl was getting at.

"Like the Nightfall character?" Barbara said.

"You think that's a Nightfall reference?" Lotte asked.

"I don't think so." Hannah raised an eyebrow. Seriously, she had gone on a date with a super hot guy and these girls were only interested on the name he shared with a Nightfall character? Geez.

"Maybe. Remember that when Arthur started courting Bella he pretended to be someone else, besides hiding his true werewolf nature?" Barbara intervened, grinning excitedly at Lotte, and no doubt imaging a million Nightfall scenarios happening in real life.

"Oh! You're right! I'll have to ask Amanda." Lotte exclaimed.

"Girls, can we focus, please?" Hannah sighed.

"Focus on what?" Diana asked as she sat next to Hannah, who ended up blushing even more at the thought of telling Diana about her love life.

"Hannah's boyfriend." Barbara teased.

"He's not…! We just… We're dating, I guess?" Hannah stuttered, sinking down in her chair as Diana's blue eyes regarded her with curiosity.

"Hannah's sweetheart, then." Her friend continued teasing mercilessly.

"Pardon?" Diana said with a confused face, obviously not knowing at all what they were talking about, so despite being completely mortified because she wanted Barbara to be the only one to know about him for now, Hannah decided to explain everything to her blonde friend.

"Remember the handsome guy on the picture?" She asked, waiting until Diana nodded slowly before continuing. "Well, I asked Amanda as you suggested, and turns out he was her brother!"

"Her _brother?_ " Diana's eyes opened wide.

"His name is Arthur." Hannah nodded. "And we went on a date last Saturday."

"And Hannah was just telling us it went _extremely_ well." Barbara interfered, at which point Hannah's cheeks just pretty much turned the color of Arthur's hair.

"Did you kiss?" Sucy's voice was heard from behind, startling Hannah so badly she nearly jumped out of her skin before turning to glare at the grim-looking witch, who was just staring at her with that expressionless face she'd always found so creepy.

"H-how long have you been standing there?!" Hannah pretty much shrieked.

"Long enough heh heh." She laughed, showing up her sharp teeth before going to sit at Lotte's right, since Barbara was sitting at her left.

"Oh, gosh! Just kill me now!" Hannah exclaimed as she buried her face in her hands, mortified at the thought of _Sucy_ knowing about her date with Amanda's brother.

"Here, drink this." Sucy said, giving her a flask filled with a dark liquid that was promptly snatched by Lotte.

"We talked about this!" The Finnish girl glared at her.

"I didn't think Hannah was part of the deal." Sucy shrugged.

"I clearly said you can't poison our friends!" Lotte exclaimed with a reprimanding expression, but Sucy's eye just blinked in response. "That includes the blue team now."

"Oh. Right." Sucy sighed, taking her flask from Lotte and putting it back on her pocket. "Guess I'll use Akko again." Lotte opened her mouth to protest once more, but Diana cut her off before she started.

"Where is she, by the way?"

"Asleep." Sucy shrugged. "I tried to wake her up, but it's Akko we're talking about."

"Maybe I should go check on her." Diana said pensively. "I don't think Finnelan would be amused if she arrived late once again." With that, she got up from the table. "Excuse me."

"Diana, you haven't eaten all your food!" Hannah tried to stop her, but the blonde ignored her as she walked briskly out of the cafeteria. Why did she have to take care of Akko anyways? Sure, they were friends, and they'd saved the world together, but she still didn't get why Diana seemed to want to play babysitter with the Japanese witch.

"Man, Diana sure is eager to get into Akko's bed." Hannah felt her heart practically leaping from her chest as soon as she heard that smooth, mischievous and _sexy_ voice with a nice American accent.

 _Arthur!_ She thought as she turned around to regard the boy in question. It wasn't until a second later that she realized Arthur couldn't possibly be in Luna Nova and that the voice she heard belonged to none other than…

"O'Neill." She sighed and turned around to continue eating her food. What a disappointment!

"Ow. Geez. Hello to you too." The American complained as she went to sit next to Hannah, in the empty seat Diana had left. Meanwhile, Jasminka and Constanze took their seats to Hanna's right after saying hi to their friends.

"I really don't appreciate what you insinuated about Diana." She said, because there was no way she'd ever admit she'd mistaken Amanda's voice for her brother's and had therefore gotten excited for nothing.

"Oh?" Amanda smirked, and for once Hannah didn't find that action to be totally childish and unappealing. It actually reminded her of Arthur. "What part? That she's a hopeless lesbian or that she wants Akko of all people?"

"Both." She answered curtly. "Because neither is true."

"Right." The American answered with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I didn't think you were that blind, but okay." She then turned to regard the rest of the people at the table. "Hey y'all! What you think? Is Cavendish after Akko?"

Hannah watched baffled as her friends, one by one, gave affirmative responses. Even Barbara nodded sheepishly when Hannah's eyes landed on her! And that's when her jaw pretty much dropped to the ground. Were they all mad?!

"T-there's no way! Are you all crazy?!" She pretty much shrieked, while Amanda just blatantly laughed at her.

"No. We have eyes." She deadpanned.

"B-but Diana… she's…!" Hannah cut herself off, starting to doubt the veracity of what she had almost said.

"As straight as me." Amanda smirked.

"You only say that because you're a lesbian and you want everyone to be a lesbian!" She accused her, not wanting to see the truth that everyone else seemed to have already seen. Truth to be told, she had never seen Diana being interested in any boy, or romance in general for that matter. Though she had always thought that was because she chose to focus on her studies instead, but she had to admit that the relationship the blonde had with Akko was different to what she had with her or Barbara.

But no! There was no way! … Was there?

"And you are too heterosexual for your own good." Amanda teased, pinching her cheek. "I'm almost sure that if you saw two girls kissing you'd think they're just good friends."

"I'm not that naïve!" Hannah answered, swatting away Amanda's hand and glaring at her with the (vain) hope she would stop with her antics already. Still, she ended up softening her expression as soon as her eyes locked into Amanda's bright green ones. Why did they have to be as pretty as Arthur's?!

"Just saying, maybe you need a bit of lesbian exposure." Amanda shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe you'll even find out something new about yourself."

"In your dreams, O'Neill." Hannah pretty much growled, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm dating your brother, remember?"

"Oh, yeah! How did that go?" She asked, smiling in a way that made Hannah think that Arthur had probably already told her _everything_. She was actually debating between making a snarky retort or just tell her to fuck off (not those exact words, of course), when Barbara answered for her.

"Hannah was just telling us how good of a kisser he is!" She teased, giggling. And instantly, Hannah's cheeks just about burst out in flames.

"I-I was not!" She protested.

"Oh, really?" Amanda smirked, eying her curiously, which just made her cheeks grow warmer, if that was even possible.

"N-no!" She said. "I-I was… we…!" Well, her brain was just about to short circuit. She didn't know what to say! Better get out of here before this bunch of clowns managed to embarrass her even further.

"That good, huh?" The American laughed, and the others followed suit, to Hannah's horror.

"S-shut up!" She yelled and briskly got up from her seat, not bothering to pick up her tray as she stormed off the cafeteria. She wasn't even sure what caused her to react like that, to be honest. Usually she was able to just ignore Amanda's childish antics! Which by the way was easier when Barbara didn't tease her too!

Maybe it was because of the uncanny resemblance she had with her brother.

Those dreamy green eyes, bright orange hair, playful and carefree attitude, sexy voice, lean muscles… yep. Those were all traits she definitely shared with Arthur. And it confused her. Yes. That's what was happening. She was simply in love with someone who was too similar to Amanda, allowing her to get under her skin more easily. That was it.

Definitely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hope you liked this first interaction between Hannah and Amanda after the date they had. Honestly, it was so much fun to write it. Hannah is just too teasable lol (wait, teasable? Is that even a word?). Anyways, thanks for reading and thank you all for leaving comments/kudos. It really inspires me to write more :)
> 
> On a side note, I have another LWA fanfic, if you want to check it out. It's about Chariot's story when she was at Luna Nova and it has tons of gay love as well, just between Chariot and Croix. Also, I'm currently writing the quest for the seven words, which should be fun. So yeah, if you want more lesbian witches, consider reading Little witch academia origins - A Believing Heart. I would really appreciate it.
> 
> Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.


	7. Flirting and chocolate

**Chapter 7: Flirting and chocolate.**

Amanda sighed heavily as she rounded the corner towards the east dormitory. She had spent the last hour searching for Hannah like crazy. Like, come on, she only wanted to talk! But that girl was nowhere to be found. She wasn’t in class (she’d asked Barbara), she wasn’t at the library, she wasn’t running errands for any of the teachers and she also wasn’t in her room. That, or she had just pretended not to be in her room. But still. Why was the universe so unfair? All Amanda wanted was to talk to the girl that had been plaguing her mind all day and, hopefully, get her to like her a little better.

Sure, she could text her. She already had, actually, first thing in the morning. The problem was… she had to pretend to be Arthur while doing so. And she really didn’t want to do that, but she might have to if the girl kept being so elusive.

“Geez.” Amanda muttered to herself as she arrived to her room. “If she keeps this up I’ll have to ask Consey to build me a tracking device.” In that moment she started to open the door, but instead it struck something on the other side.

“Ow! Hey!” Someone said from inside her room, and just then Amanda realized she’d accidentally hit a person. Who? She wasn’t sure… until that person opened the door and glared at her while massaging her sore torso. And to the American’s horror, it was none other than…

“Hannah!” Amanda exclaimed as a big smile appeared on her face… only for her to register a second later her crush’s glare and realize _why_ it was directed at her. “Ah… sorry. I didn’t know you were there.” She said sheepishly. “What are you doing here anyways?”

“That is none of your concern.” The girl snarled. “You should be more careful while barging into places.”

“Uhm… you’re in my room, so I’d say it _does_ concern me.” Amanda smirked, much to Hanna’s frustration. Just before the English girl could murder her, however, Jasminka decided to intervene.

“Oh, Hannah just came looking for you.” She said with her characteristic kind smile.

“Did she now?” Amanda’s smirk widened even more as she looked directly at Hannah, who blushed and stuttered as she tried to search for an answer.

“Yes, she said she needed advice for buying a gift for your brother.” Jasminka answered. “I told her it’d be better to ask you instead.”

Of course, Amanda had already told her two closest friends about the whole situation with Hannah. Neither of them (especially Jasminka) were supportive of her crazy plan but they decided to go along with it for now and let Amanda handle the situation as she saw fit. Still, Jas gave Amanda a long look that silently communicated something like “I don’t agree with this and it will blow up in your face. You should tell her the truth. Right. Now.”

“Isn’t your date next Saturday though?” Amanda asked, deciding to focus on her crush instead. “It’s only Thursday.”

“I want to be prepared.” Hannah huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, though her permanent blush wasn’t helping her appear disinterested. “I’m a busy woman, and I may not have time later in the week.”

“Right.” Amanda said skeptically.

“So, anyways… what do you think I should give Arthur?” Hannah asked a bit too eagerly.

“You sure are head over heels for him, aren’t you?” Amanda chuckled. “I mean, isn’t it usually the guy who gives presents to the girl?”

“I’m just trying to be nice!” Hannah huffed, obviously not amused by the American’s teasing.

“Fine! Just give him… I don’t know, chocolate or flowers, or some other cliché date thing.” Amanda said vaguely, since she felt that directly telling Hannah what kind of presents she liked would be like taking advantage of her.

“You’re not helping!” The girl pretty much growled, clearly one second away of punching Amanda in the face. Thankfully, Jasminka seemed to notice and went to her friend’s rescue once more.

“Doesn’t Arthur like dark chocolate with hazelnuts?” Jasminka inquired innocently, but truthfully that was Amanda’s favorite flavor of chocolate. The redhead shot her a thankful smile.

“Oh, yeah. He does.”

“Isn’t that _your_ favorite kind of chocolate?” Hannah asked, eying her suspiciously.

“What? No! I…!” Amanda started saying defensively, but then paused and gave Hannah a curious look. “How do you even know what kind of chocolate I like?”

“The day Akko managed to fly for the first time Jasminka brought homemade chocolates for everyone. You ate almost all the dark chocolates and seemed to enjoy the ones with hazelnuts the most.” Hannah asserted, crossing her arms and lifting her chin proudly.

“And you remember that?” Amanda said with a shit-eating grin. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you’re stalking me.”

“Shut up, O’Neill!” Hannah said, punching her in the shoulder, at which the American had rub her arm to try and soothe the pain. Who would have guessed Hannah wasn’t as weak as she seemed? And also… she had been holding back when she punched Arthur, huh? “Now, if you excuse me, I’ve got some chocolates to prepare.” As she tried to push past Amanda, however, she blocked her way at the risk of getting punched again.

“Wait… you’re not buying it?”

“Of course not! I want it to be spe-” Hannah cut herself off upon seeing Amanda’s growing grin and feeling her cheeks getting warmer and warmer. “I-I mean… I need to try out Jasminka’s recipes, and Arthur will be a nice test subject.”

“Are you sure about that?” Amanda laughed, raising an eyebrow. “Because I don’t have to be a genius to know that if you give him the chocolate at your date he’ll tell you it tastes amazing even if it sucks.”

“It won’t suck!” Hannah snarled. “And to make sure of that you’re coming with me!” She then proceeded to grab Amanda by the collar and start dragging her though the hall.

“Ow! Hey, wait!” Amanda tried to protest and pry Hannah’s hands off her collar, but the girl’s grip was way too damn strong.

“Thanks Jasminka, you were a great help!” The shorter girl called, ignoring the American’s protests.

“Wait, why me? Where are we going?!”

“You’ll be my test subject.” Hannah simply answered, giving her a malicious smirk that actually made her gulp.

They arrived to the kitchens just as curfew started. And granted, Amanda was used to being in places where she wasn’t supposed to be at times she wasn’t supposed to be out of her room, but she never thought she’d be in such a situation because of one of Diana’s minions. Hannah England, at that! But then again, it’d been a while since the girl had stopped being _just_ one of Diana’s minions, hadn’t it? It felt fitting that, now that she was part of their group, the girl would start breaking some rules.

What Amanda couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out was why on Earth Hannah had taken her on her little adventure when Jasminka would have been a far better option for what she was about to do. Not that she was complaining. She’d take any opportunity to flirt with the girl and get to know her a little better.

“Come on, you lazy clown, make yourself useful and help me find the ingredients.” Hannah said when Amanda just kept looking around while Hannah washed her hands before starting to rummage around the kitchen, clearly having no idea where to find what she was looking for.

“Jeez, at least ask nicely.” Amanda complained. “I thought you British people were supposed to have better manners.” Still, as she spoke Amanda started to look around the many cabinets where the staff kept all sorts of ingredients, from normal flour and sugar to spices made from dragon scales. Still, having helped Jasminka steal ingredients at least a dozen times she knew exactly where everything was, and also what she used to create her favorite chocolates. So before Hannah had finished searching through one of the drawers, Amanda had already put all of the ingredients on the table.

“Hey.” Amanda said as she tapped Hannah’s shoulder in order to get her attention.

“What?” The girl answered with her usual scowl on her face as she turned to regard her. Amanda, however, didn’t even flinch under her glare and instead just pointed to the ingredients with her head.

Hannah slowly turned around, and her eyes widened to the size of plates when she saw all of the ingredients _and_ utensils already there waiting for her. She opened and closed her mouth searching for something to say.

“I-I… Ah… _how?_ ”

“I have some experience.” Amanda laughed, enjoying seeing her dumbfounded expression a little too much.

“Stealing stuff from the kitchen?” Hannah raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know why I’m even surprised.”

“You’re welcome, _princess_.” Amanda answered cockily as she flashed her one of her characteristic mischievous smiles.

“Yeah, yeah, thank you. Whatever.” Hannah huffed, rolling her eyes and not really appearing to be thankful at all. “Now come on, let’s get these chocolates done before Finnelan catches us here.”

“You know, it would have been better if you’d brought Jasminka instead. I’m not very good at cooking.” Amanda said as she observed Hannah getting out a little notebook where she had written the instructions and starting to measure the ingredients using a measuring cup and a scale.

“Yeah? Well, I don’t really need your help _preparing_ the chocolate. Cooking is one of my hobbies, after all.” She then started pouring the ingredients into a baking pan.

“Hope you do it better than dancing then.” The American teased.

“He told you about that too?!” Hannah exclaimed as she turned to look at her with wide eyes, blushing. For a moment, Amanda wondered what was she talking about, since she had seen firsthand her dancing abilities, but then she remembered she and Arthur weren’t supposed to be the same person and chuckled.

“Well, I mean, we’re twins. We tell each other _everything_.”

“Really?” Hannah raised an eyebrow unconvincingly before going back to the task at hand, although Amanda had a feeling she was mostly doing that to avoid eye contact. “It must be nice. Getting along so well with your brother.” The bitter tone she used gave Amanda pause, and sensing there was something there, she decided to ask, hoping Hannah wouldn’t hate her for it.

“Do you have any siblings?”

“Just one.” She sighed. “A younger sister.”

“And you two don’t get along very well.” It wasn’t a question.

“It wasn’t always like that.” Hannah replied as she lit the stove using her wand and then placed the baking pan on top. “We used to play together all the time… the problem is she refused to grow up.”

“Maybe you just grew up too fast.” Amanda decided to express her opinion, even if she knew it was at the risk of getting Hannah mad at her. But she just always thought that the girl was a little too serious for her own good. A little too bent on rules.

“I had to.” Hannah frowned. “Our parents divorced, mom was always at parties or sleeping… all that stuff.” She sighed again. “And my sister was all too happy to just continue being childish and irresponsible while I got to play the parental roll for her. You have no idea what a relief it was to finally come to Luna Nova and forget about it all!”

“Childish and irresponsible, you say?” Amanda raised an eyebrow. “Is that why you hated Akko?” Is that why you hated me? Was the real question she wanted to ask, but she dared not voice it.

“Partially.” She shrugged. “I also thought I was _supposed_ to hate her since she didn’t belong here. I thought that’s what was expected of me.”

“And you always do what’s expected of you.” There was clear disapproval on Amanda’s voice that she wasn’t able to hold back. The subject just irked her the wrong way.

“And you don’t.” Hannah made a face.

“I don’t.” She agreed, chuckling. “I prefer to do what _I_ expect of myself rather than let someone else plan my life for their own benefit.”

“I’m sensing a story there.” The English girl said, stopping her task to regard her for a moment, giving her a clear questioning look, which made Amanda chuckle. Now, she normally didn't like to talk about this, but she supposed there was no real harm in opening up a bit, especially if she wanted to get close to Hannah. And _especially_ after the girl had shared a bit of her past with her.

“It's not a particularly good story.” Amanda shrugged, trying to appear disinterested. “It’s about two greedy bastards that wanted to inherit a multi-million dollar company, and of a stupid testament that said there must always be a witch in the family.” She tensed her jaw, trying not to get too emotional about it. “And of course, they didn’t mind sending their only daughter overseas to study magic ever since she was a little girl. They didn’t even ask if she _wanted_ to be a witch.” She drew in a shuddering breath, using all her will to suppress the rising knot in her throat. “I just refuse to be what they want. And I refuse to let them benefit at my expense.”

When she finally dared to meet Hannah’s eyes, she found them looking back at her with a mix of pity and genuine empathy, a look she had never seen in the usually cold girl. And she didn’t know what to do with it.

“I’m sorry I asked. I had no idea it affected you so.” She said.

“Huh?” Affected her? But she was trying not to show her emotions, so what…?

As if answering her silent question, Hannah’s hand rose in that moment and gently brushed her cheek, where a single stray tear had left a silver path. Angry at herself for letting her vulnerability show, Amanda took a step back and furiously wiped her eyes, hoping to erase all evidence of her crying. She didn’t want to see her as weak. She wanted her to see her like Arthur, who was so perfect, strong, carefree, happy and confident. Arthur, who didn’t have a sob story to tell.

“H-hey, now that we’ve both shared our sorry stories, I’m sure that chocolate will taste extra bitter.” Amanda joked, refusing to meet Hannah’s eyes yet. “Just like I like it.”

“Want a taste?” Hannah asked before grabbing a spoon and dipping it on the mix she was still preparing. She probably sensed it was wiser not to inquire further into the American’s personal life. “It’s not finished yet, but I just want to know how you like it so far.”

“Sure.” Amanda smiled, thankful for the distraction, and reached to grab the spoon.

“Careful, it’s hot.” Hannah warned her.

“I’m all for hot.” She winked before popping it into her mouth. And holy shit! Hannah wasn’t lying, it _was_ a little too hot, but she could handle a little pain if she got to taste this delicious buttery concoction… even if it wasn’t as good as Jasminka's. But she knew better than to say that last part out loud.

“Is it good?” Hannah smirked, obviously knowing the answer because it was written all over her face.

“Absolutely!” She answered honestly, taking the spoon out of her mouth. “Just add some hazelnuts and Arthur will love you forever. 100% guaranteed.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep!” She nodded. “We do have the same taste when it comes to chocolate.”

“Huh. He did say something similar when we met.” Hannah mused. “But he was talking about women.”

“Well, that too.” She agreed, not realizing the implications.

“Does that mean you like me?” The girl teased, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, and Amanda’s brain just about stopped working in that moment, while her heart seemed to be just one step away from leaping out of her chest.

“Uh… I-I… I, uhm… no?” She stuttered, feeling the heat on her cheeks intensify the more she stared into Hannah’s eyes… which were now wide with surprise at her reaction.

“You totally do, don’t you?”

“No!” She denied once again, deviating her gaze so she could function like a normal human being. “I mean… you’re beautiful, yes, I’d be blind not to notice, but…”

“Huh. Arthur said the same thing.” Hannah mused, cutting her off.

“Ah… h-he did, didn’t he?” The redhead sweated, getting more nervous the more she felt Hannah’s gaze focused intensely on her. Gosh, if she didn’t control herself she’d end up accidentally spilling the beans for sure!

“He too was trying to deny his obvious attraction to me.” She smirked, obviously enjoying the effects her teasing was having on Amanda.

“I-I… I’m not…” Before she could complete her obvious lie, they heard the door open, and years of sneaking around where she didn’t belong kicked in. Amanda instantly knelt down on the floor and pulled Hannah with her so they could hide behind the table.

“H-hey! What are you…?” Amanda quickly placed her hand atop Hannah’s mouth, silencing her. The girl of course protested, trying to pry her hand off her, but then she heard someone walking inside the kitchens and quickly quieted down.

“Let’s get under the table.” The redhead mouthed, and only let go of Hannah when the girl nodded slowly.

Hannah crawled under the table first, and Amanda followed soon after… only realizing her mistake a few moments later when she found herself facing her friend’s butt. And what a nice butt it was! Damn, it suddenly felt too hot in there.

“Amanda!” Hannah scream whispered, glaring at the girl. “Stop staring!”

“Uh… I… ah…” She mumbled dumbly, unable to tear her gaze away from the wonderful sight she’d been blessed with.

“Amanda!” She said, now angrier. “Stop it, you perv!” In order to physically stop her from staring, Hannah then turned around and tried to slap the redhead, but she thankfully reacted on time and caught her hand. Hannah then started struggling, keen on landing at least one hit on her, but Amanda wasn’t about to relent, and she was also way stronger, so soon enough she’d had her completely immobilized… and under her.

She blushed when she realized the position they were in. She was straddling the other girl and had her hands pinned to the ground. And they were close. Too close. Fuck. It’d be so easy to just lean down and…

“G-get off of me!” Hannah protested, also blushing, and trying to push Amanda off of her, but before either girl could really disentangle themselves from their awkward position, someone peered under the table and pointed her wand at them… and when they turned to look who it was, they found none other than Diana, looking at them with a surprised expression.

“Fuck!” Amanda cursed and tried to get off of Hannah, only to hit her head on the table and make her have to rub the sore spot with her hand while she tried to regain her bearings.

“T-this is not what it looks like!” Hannah said, panicking as she struggled to get off from under Amanda.

“Y-yeah.” Amanda stuttered, still trying to think clearly despite her recent concussion. “We weren’t kissing or anything.”

“It didn’t look like you were kissing.” Diana frowned, adopting a strict tone. “It looked like you were making chocolate using school property during curfew hours.”

“I’m sorry, Diana!” Hannah said once she was finally able to get out from under the table. “I was just…”

“Hannah.” The blonde girl cut her off harshly. “I thought you knew better than to follow Amanda’s crazy antics.”

“Hey!”

“But I will let you off of this one because it’s your first infraction.” Diana finished, ignoring Amanda’s protests.

“I… It actually was my idea.” Hannah answered with a truly regretful expression, but just then Amanda shot up from her sitting position and got out from under the table.

“No, Hannah. It’s okay. I appreciate that you’re trying to defend me, but I will gladly face the consequences.” She said.

“Huh?” Hannah tilted her head confused, not having expected Amanda to take all the blame for something that was pretty much exclusively her fault, but the girl just smiled and winked, as if saying ‘now we’re even’.

“Now, please get out of here before I change my mind.” Diana told her, giving her a pleading expression that clearly said she didn’t want her to make it even more difficult for her, given she really didn’t like to punish her friends when she found them doing something against the rules during her patrols, but she still had a duty to uphold so… it was complicated. And Hannah knew it, so she didn’t hesitate to obey her friend.

“R-right! Thanks Diana.” With that and a brief glance towards Amanda, Hannah pretty much ran away and out of the kitchen. The redhead was about to do the same, when Diana stopped her.

“A word, O’Neill.” She said, glaring at her.

“What? Are you gonna punish me for being a bad influence on Hannah?” She chuckled, knowing Diana would do nothing of the sort since she’d never reported her to the teachers since she’d become friends with Akko.

“No.” She simply said before moving her wand, which made all the stuff they’d used return to its place, like they had never taken it to begin with. The dishes even cleaned themselves! It was pretty impressive, even if Amanda would never say that out loud.

“Cool trick, now if you excuse me…” Amanda made a motion to push past her, but Diana quickly grabbed her arm, squeezing almost painfully. Threateningly.

“I know your secret.” She said, staring directly at her eyes with an expression so cold it literally gave Amanda chills. Still, she tried to appear calm and feign ignorance.

“What are you talking about, Cavendish?” She raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t have a brother named Arthur, do you?” Amanda’s stomach turned at her words and she started visibly sweating. “You’re just playing with Hannah. With my _friend_.”

“Now, playing is sort of a strong word, don’t you think?” She chuckled, as if cracking up jokes would save her from this situation. Fatal mistake. Instantly, Diana pushed her away just enough to then point her wand at her and make the small dot off light at the tip glow brighter.

“You will tell her the truth, or I will tell her myself.” She pretty much snarled.

“Relax, Di.” Amanda said, still trying to appear carefree, as she casually pushed the wand away from her. “I am planning to tell her. I’m just waiting for the right moment.”

“And when would that be?” She asked, squinting at her.

“Hopefully when she falls in love with me.” She shrugged.

“You know she’s straight, right?” Diana raised an eyebrow. Funny. Akko had said the same thing.

“ _Actually_ , according to the University of Essex…”

“O’Neill.” She interrupted her with a glare before she could also give her the same answer.

“Okay, fine. Geez.” Amanda rolled her eyes. “I’ll tell her, just… give me one week. Tops. I promise.”

“If you hurt her, I swear I’ll…”

“Yeah, yeah, report me to the teachers, hex me, whatever.” This time the American girl did push past her and headed to the exit, and Diana didn’t stop her. “Believe me, Di, that is not my intention at all.”

“No, but sometimes the worst kind of harm is that which is not intended.”

Amanda paused briefly at the door, as those words buried themselves on her chest one by one, almost physically hurting her as they awakened her doubts and fears about the situation she’d gotten herself into. But at the end, she was already in too deep, and so, she buried them again and kept walking, ignoring the little voice inside her head that told her that at the end of the day her little charade would only end up hurting both her and Hannah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, It seems things are getting even more complicated for poor Amanda, and now she even has a deadline. But at least now they're spending time together, right? So, I hope you enjoyed it and thta you continue to support this fic by commenting or leaving kudos! See you next week :)
> 
> Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.


	8. A dangerous ball

**Chapter 8: A dangerous ball.**

So, Hannah had been avoiding Amanda these past few days. Not because she disliked her, mind you. On the contrary; she found herself becoming rather fond of the mischievous girl, which by itself wouldn’t be bad, but… there was just something _different_ about her relationship with Amanda than with her other friends.

She’d often find herself looking at Amanda from afar, trying to take in even the littlest detail. She’d feel nervous when she tried to talk to her. She’d get flustered by the stupidest of things, which made it extremely easy for Amanda to tease her. And also… she couldn’t help comparing Amanda with Arthur. And the more she did, the more similar they were in her opinion.

At first she thought it was only the physical appearance, but then she noticed the little mannerisms, the tone of voice, the expressions, the way of talking… and yeah, most of those things could be attributed to them being siblings and thus having been raised in the same household and by the same people, but... They were almost _creepily_ similar. She’d even wondered a few times if they were in fact the same person, before quickly dismissing such thoughts.

It wouldn’t be that much of a stretch, honestly, considering Amanda was a witch. But… no. Amanda wouldn’t actually pull such a mean prank on her, right? Sure, she was mischievous to a fault, but never cruel. And Arthur may be too good to be true, but that didn’t mean he didn’t exist, right? Right.

“Hannah! There you are!” Hannah pretty much jumped in surprise as an arm was rudely thrown around her shoulders. An arm that unfortunately belonged to the very girl that had been plaguing her mind lately. Which of course caused her heart to start racing and her stomach to fill with butterflies. She supposed it was because she knew Amanda found her beautiful, and kinda had a crush on her. And looked a lot like Arthur.

Totally. No other reason.

“O’Neill.” Hannah snarled, getting off from the redhead's grip. “Don’t you know anything about personal space?”

“Hey, it’s just a little bit of innocent physical contact.” Amanda rolled her eyes. “Chill out, princess.”

“Well, in the future please keep your hands to yourself.” She huffed, taking a step back in order to put some distance between them. “Now, if you excuse me…”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you’ve been avoiding me lately.” Amanda blocked her path, much to the girl’s annoyance.

“I d-don't know what you’re talking about!” She tried to deny the obvious truth, but couldn’t even look Amanda in the eye while she did so, and had to look to the side, blushing slightly.

“Is it because I know your little secret?” The girl smirked maliciously.

“What secret?” Now Hannah was very confused. Was she talking about what she’d said about her sister the other day? That wasn’t really a secret, at least not to most of her friends.

Before she could come up with a better hypothesis, however, she found herself pinned against the wall with the infuriating American whispering in her ear.

“That you don’t know how to dance.”

Hannah couldn’t for the life of her comprehend why goosebumps formed all over her skin upon hearing such simple words whispered to her so intimately she could even feel Amanda’s breath ghost over her ear. But she couldn’t suppress her body’s reaction either.

“I-I…” Hannah tried to speak, but all she managed was a pathetic squeak that made the heat on her cheeks intensify. So she decided to resolve the Amanda problem first and speak second.

Planting her hands firmly on the other girl’s shoulders, she shoved her away with all her force, almost aggressively, and then glared at her as hard as she could.

“I _do_ know how to dance!”

“Heh. So you say.” The American grinned, not appearing to be fazed at all by the angry look in Hannah’s face.

“I just have different tastes than Arthur. That’s all.” She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Oh, really? Then please tell me, princess, what kind of music you like to dance to?” By Amanda’s shit-eating grin it was obvious that any answer would be met with more teasing, especially considering that answer was… musicals. Hannah really, really, liked musicals. Especially the dance numbers, and she’d participated in quite a few during middle school, the last one being Wicked, in which she played the role of Glinda. But if she was honest, Amanda would undoubtedly laugh in her face, so she decided to say a partial truth.

“Something more witch-like.” After all, Wicked was the story of a witch, right?

“You know broom dancing?” Amanda asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise, obviously having interpreted her answer incorrectly. But… perhaps this development wasn’t so bad after all.

“Any decent witch knows broom dancing.” Hannah rolled her eyes, trying to appear confident. After all, it’d been _years_ since she’d partaken in such acts, but she did know the basics. And surely Amanda wouldn’t tease her for that… right?

“I have yet to meet another witch who really knows broom dancing.” The redhead answered, frowning. “It appears it’s a dying art, even within the witching community.”

“Really?” Truth to be told, she’d never asked anyone if they knew broom dancing. Her mother had taught her when she was young, saying it was a fundamental skill any witch should know, so she just assumed everyone could do it.

“Hey, I have some free time right now…” Amanda started to say, looking to the side and rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “Do you, maybe, I don’t know… want to… dance? With me?” The girl blushed madly as she asked her question, avoiding eye contact at all costs, but she still tried to play it cool. “I just want to see if you actually know broom dancing.”

“Right.” Hannah raised an eyebrow skeptically. A part of her wanted to say no and run away because the feelings Amanda caused her were deeply confusing at the very least. There was a reason she’d been avoiding her, after all! But… if she said no Amanda would probably keep thinking she didn’t know how to dance, and would continue teasing her about it, so…

“Sure. I’ve got nothing better to do right now.”

The two girls went to retrive their brooms and then headed to the sports field. For Amanda it was a pretty normal way to spend the afternoon, except she’d usually fly on her own. For Hannah though… she’d already started to regret her decision. What was she thinking?! Broom dancing was pretty dangerous, and to do it with another person you had to trust them completely. Not that she didn’t trust Amanda. It’s just… the girl was a bit to reckless. Careless, even. Maybe they should start slow, test the waters a bit.

“So… what kind of music do you like, princess? Something classic?” Amanda asked as she moved around her wand, no doubt readying the spell.

“What, like Rock or something?” Hannah raised an eyebrow. Surely Amanda didn’t know anything about _actual_ classic music, right?

“No. I mean the kind of stuff orchestras play for boring old people.” She rolled her eyes. “Geez, Hannah, I’m not as uncultured as you think.”

“Oh. Okay then.” Hannah felt her cheeks heating up in embarrassment when Amanda exposed the incredibly rude assumption she’d made. “Yeah, something classic sounds nice. Maybe slow too; it’s been a while since I last practiced broom dancing.”

“Sure. I think I have the perfect song for that.” Amanda then waved her wand in a circular pattern and instantly a soft piano music started playing. A music only the two of them could hear. “I’ll start and you follow me, okay?” As soon as Hannah nodded in agreement, Amanda took her broom and stepped back a few paces.

The American girl decided to start on the ground, grabbing the broom with both of her hands and spinning it around at double the tempo of the music before starting to rotate herself in a striking and ostentatious display of skill and grace. Then, she jumped high up in the air and left her broom floating stationary in a horizontal position, grabbing the handle with both her hands and making two perfect twirls that any gymnast would envy before stopping at a sitting position on her broom just in time for the music to make a small pause, smiling down at Hannah in a challenging way.

So much for taking it slow, huh? Well, Hannah may not be able to do such tricks, at least not flawlessly, but what she lacked on skill she compensated for with feminine grace. Not that Amanda didn’t have grace, but her moments were almost aggressive… which, granted, suited her fiery personality, but that was not the point! And the music had already resumed and Hannah had to start now or she'd look like a fool.

Thankfully, the song then took a quieter tone, almost melancholic, that fitted perfectly with what Hannah wanted to do.

She started by holding the broom horizontally in front of her with both of her hands, and then slowly letting go, making sure it stayed in a relatively firm position. Then, she caressed the handle carefully, with grace, feeling the slow up and down subtle movements of the broom before finally sitting on top of it in one swift movement, both her legs hanging on the side. Finally, as the music started to pick up again, Hannah started ascending, making wide circles at the rhythm of the music, looking firmly at Amanda waiting for her next move.

The redhead just stared at her for a few seconds, likely evaluating her options, before smirking mischievously and flying towards her. At first Hannah didn’t get what she wanted to do, but then she realized that, much like her, she was also ascending in wide circles, except hers were clockwise instead of counter-clockwise. And so they kept ascending, circling each other as they waited for the other to do something different.

As it was expected, Amanda was the first one to make a move, not long after they had started circling. It coincided with more instruments joining the melody, which was now a full orchestra. Amanda jumped up and landed with her soles on the broom's handle, adopting a standing position. Then, she narrowed her circles, getting closer to Hannah and gesturing for her to also get up.

Now, Hannah wasn’t a stranger to flying upright, since it was a basic move in broom dancing, but she had never done so while flying so _high_. Could she really count on Amanda to catch her if she lost her footing? A fall from this altitude would surely kill her, right? The trees appeared to be the size of broccolis from where they were.

Amanda, apparently noticing her hesitation, decided to stop her broom in front of hers, bow deeply and offer her hand, as is asking her to dance like a true gentleman, but Hannah could tell it was most likely a way to reassure her; to tell her she would hold her if she fell.

But the girl from the blue team still hesitated, not because she didn’t trust Amanda, but because she got lost for a moment in those dangerous green eyes. They were deep, and shined with anticipation and excitement. And something more too. Happiness? Was Amanda truly happy to be dancing with her? But they hadn’t done anything daring and dangerous! Was what little she could do really enough?

But the moment of hesitation quickly passed, and before she could let her rational mind think better of it, Hannah had already extended her hand into Amanda’s, which held her with a strong grip and pulled her up as she helped her stand.

Her position was wobbly at first, as expected, but she quickly regained her balance as muscle memory kicked in, and soon she had an expert broom-dancer position. Her legs spread wide to keep her steady, her back straight and her eyes fixed to the front, where Amanda was staring at her, smiling in satisfaction at seeing how well she was doing so far. Hannah didn’t know why, but her heart fluttered with pride when she noticed.

“Let’s do steps now.” Amanda said, speaking for the first time since they’d begun. Steps were a pretty basic technique when it came to broom dancing, but they could still be tricky if you lost your balance easily. Thankfully, holding Amanda’s hand as she was it was very unlikely for Hannah to fall, so she accepted with a nod.

They turned to look at the front of their respective brooms, with only the tip of their feet touching the handle, and then, pausing only to catch the beat of the music, they started walking forward, commanding their brooms to move with them as well. The steps, however, weren’t exactly like those you take while walking, but instead reassembled more skipping, with their knees rising high and remaining there for a moment before they switched to the other foot, waiting for the broom to catch up.

It required coordination, equilibrium and mastery over the broom, so while for Amanda it was a piece of cake, Hannah was having a little bit of trouble keeping up with the upbeat tone of the song. As far as she remembered, she had always used slow-paced melodies for this very reason.

“Hey, Han.” Amanda called, making the girl pause for a moment to regard her. She would never admit it out loud, but she was actually thankful for the interruption. “Watch this.”

Saying that, the American suddenly let go of her hand and disappeared from sight as her broom dropped a few feet. Before Hannah could comprehend what was going on, however, she reappeared on her left side and took her other hand.

“Just remain firm.” The redhead advised before continuing her routine.

Amanda then proceeded to do a series of tricks involving dancing and pirouetting around Hannah, using her hand as support, even if the shorter girl suspected she didn’t _actually_ need it. It was very impressive, if she was honest, and the flashing smiles of satisfaction Amanda shoot her after each trick were almost worth being left out of the fun. Almost.

Once Hannah had regained her breath and truly memorized the music pattern of the song, she decided she could do more than just stand there and help Amanda.

“Switch.” She said. The American seemed to be taken aback by her sudden request, but nodded nonetheless and planted her feet firmly on her broom as, at the same time, tightened her grip on Hannah’s hands. Then, after four beats of stillness, Amanda made the first move and the other girl followed.

They joined both of their hands for a moment and jumped, switching brooms, before letting go of each other once more. They repeated the act three more times, but then Hannah stumbled, and would’ve probably slipped if Amanda hadn’t grabbed her as quickly as she did, but thankfully the American didn’t comment about it.

“What now?” Amanda asked, apparently having decided it was best to let Hannah set the pace.

“Let’s see what you can do.” Hannah answered, trying to appear more confident than she actually felt, but also she was genuinely curious to see what Amanda could pull off, even while having a companion with far less experience than her.

“Careful, princess. That sounds like a challenge.” She smirked.

“Maybe it is.”

Amanda’s smile widened impossibly upon hearing those words, and her grip on Hannah’s hands tightened.

“You’re on.”

Before Hannah could even think of doing something, Amanda’s hands had already moved to grab her waist instead and she had lifted her up with her strong arms, forcing her to place her own hands on her shoulders for support. The shorter girl could just let out a squeak as she felt her stomach drop upon not feeling anything solid under her feet, more so when the American devil spun around a couple of times before setting her down on her broom once more… which was now to the right of Amanda’s? What? Had she moved it while they were spinning? Damn, this girl was good.

And now Amanda was jumping onto her broom, not even giving her a moment to breathe.

“H-hey what are you…?”

Before she could complete her question, Amanda’s broom had already fled on a wide arch, only to come from Hannah’s back, between her legs, and lift her up, carrying her away.

The British girl squeaked and held onto the broom for dear life, commanding it to redirect its trajectory so she was facing Amanda once more and could keep an eye on the mischievous girl, who no doubt was already planning something. 

“Hey, England! I have your broom!” Amanda shouted, smiling widely as she sat down, gripping the handle with both her hands before starting to spin and jump like a true Olympic gymnast, which again was very impressive, yes, but that was _her_ broom damnit! And she wasn’t going to get away with it.

Carefully, Hannah approached the American girl, placing the broom she was riding a few meters under the one Amanda had, and then waited for the perfect moment to… there!

Hannah’s broom flied away just as Amanda jumped, which made her find nothing but air when she tried to land. She seemed to panic for a moment, but then she managed to barely take hold of her own broom, in which Hannah was still sitting.

“That should teach you.” Hannah huffed with a dignified tone, before getting up with grace and carefully jumping onto her own broom, keeping a straight posture with her head help up high, worthy of any aristocrat.

“Heh. Good one.” Amanda chuckled.

“Now, let’s please do something less dangerous and difficult, alright?” Hannah pretty much demanded.

“Oh, come on, that was easy!” She protested, rolling her eyes. “But as you wish, princess.” She then paused, thinking even as she was still hanging from the tip of her fingers. The position didn’t seem to bother her at all, huh? “You know vertical flying?”

“Pfft. Baby stuff.” Hannah said confidently. Maybe a little _too_ confidently. She did know vertical flying, and it wasn’t extremely difficult by any means, but she had never been able to do it perfectly as, invariantly, her hands ended up getting all sweaty and she’d fall. But she didn’t want Amanda to be the only one showing off her tricks, so…

“Let’s do it then!” The American then finally got on her broom and gave her a dashing smile. Then she shot down towards the ground, probably to start their ascent from there, and Hannah quickly followed, noticing Amanda actually slowed down in order to let her catch up to her. Which was nice.

Once they were a meter or so above the ground they stopped and looked at each other for a moment, waiting for the perfect time in the music for them to resume their flying.

“Twisters?” Amanda asked, gesturing with her index finger to move upwards in circles, and Hannah nodded quickly… even if she’d always hated twisters. But she’d never admit that to Amanda of all people. She wanted to impress her, after all! Wait… she did? Right. She wanted her to stop teasing her about not knowing how to dance. That was all.

As soon as the music picked up once more, both girls commanded their brooms to start flying upwards in a vertical position, which by itself wasn’t so bad. Yeah, Hannah’s grip on her broom couldn’t be tighter if she tried, and even her thighs were starting to ache as she squeezed them together, trying to remain on her broom, but it still wasn’t so bad. No. The problem was shooting up at top speed while at the same time spiraling around and holding onto the broom for dear life. Yeah… that was not only nerve-wracking but also vomit-inducing. For her at least; Amanda was laughing loudly, so she assumed she was actually having fun. Somehow.

Ugh. She felt like she was going to throw up.

But she wasn’t Hannah England if she gave up at the first inconvenience, was she? She was one of the best witches at the academy, a noblewoman, descendant from a proud line of witches… granted, not as prestigious as the Cavendishes, but still! She was better than this. She could do it. If Amanda could deal with some silly twisters so could she!

As expected, her hands started sweating soon, and they started sliding down the handle, while at the same time her vision blurred and suddenly she felt like she was about to pass out…

Next thing she knew, she was sitting on something soft, and someone was calling her name, as if trying to wake her up. Also, there was an arm wrapped around her waist, holding her in place, which was the real reason she wasn’t falling. Still, she decided to wrap her arms around her savior’s shoulders in order to feel more secure.

“Hannah? You alright?” Hannah looked up to meet a pair of concerned green eyes looking at her. They were beautiful green eyes too.

“A-Arthur?” She asked, still light-headed.

“Heh. Too many G-forces for you?” Her knight in shining armor smirked. Except… it wasn’t Arthur, was it? It was Amanda. She had been flying with Amanda and then…

Hannah felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment when she realized what had just happened. Amanda had not only saved her from falling, but she was now holding her bridal style, with Hannah’s butt resting on her lap. Oh gosh! If this wasn’t teasing material she didn’t know what was!

Still, she didn’t move from her position. Rationalizing she was too afraid of falling to disturb the balance of the broom.

“Sorry.” She apologized, looking away. “I guess I’m not as good as I thought.”

“Nah, you’re good. I just didn’t realize your style was more tempered. I’m sorry.” The American continued to smile as she looked at her, and there was something in that smile…a certain softness Hannah couldn’t really grasp or comprehend. “But you should have said something sooner.”

“I didn’t want to hold you back.” The girl grimaced, realizing that’s pretty much what she’d just done.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Amanda then used her free hand to gently tuck a strand of hair behind Hannah’s ear, before stopping at her cheek. A gesture that felt so intimate and caring it filled Hannah’s heart with a warmth comparable to that of molten chocolate…. And her head with tons and tons of questions that she very much preferred to ignore.

“I just wanted to have fun!” She continued before Hannah could dwell too much about her actions. “There’s no need for dangerous acrobatics, honestly.”

“Hmh.” Hannah pursed her lips, still upset at herself. She had thought she could resist at least a little longer! And now Amanda was surely lying to make her feel better. Great. “That’s hard to believe when all the time you were doing just _that_.”

At her annoyed response, Amanda just laughed, finally letting her hand return to its place at her broom's handle… which was somewhat disappointing. For some reason. Maybe she still hadn't recovered from passing out.

“I’m sorry.” The American said, still giggling. “I thought I was taking it easy.”

“Yeah. No. You weren’t.” Hannah drawled out, trying to keep her angry attitude despite Amanda’s soft expression showing an emotion she had never seen on the brash girl. Something like… _adoration_? Maybe. Maybe she had underestimated her feelings for her. Maybe they went beyond a simple crush. Maybe.

And _maybe_ she didn’t know what to do about it.

“How about I take it easy _now_?” Amanda asked, hopeful.

“Yeah. Sure.” Hannah replied with a disbelieving tone, rolling her eyes.

“Come on. I’ll let you lead.” She pleaded, giving her the biggest puppy dog eyes to ever exist. And… ugh! Why did her eyes had to be as beautiful as Arthur’s?! It just wasn’t fair!

“Only because I want revenge.” She replied as coldly as she could… which unfortunately wasn’t much. But at least she managed to disguise a bit the effect this girl was having on her.

“’kay.” She replied softly.

And so, the two girls kept dancing and flying, this time at a much tamer pace, thanks to Amanda following Hannah and not the other way around. They still did some dangerous acrobatics, but much slower so Hannah wouldn’t pass out, and Amanda was careful to keep close and help her if necessary.

At the end, when Hannah returned to her room just after curfew, all sweaty and exhausted, she couldn’t help the little smile that appeared on her face, and the overall happiness that seemed to have settled into every fiber of her being.

For some reason, that night when she sent Arthur a goodnight message, she couldn’t help thinking of Amanda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was a long, fluffy chapter full of Hamanda moments. Yay! :D
> 
> I hope you liked it, and if so please leave a comment or kudos. They really inspire me to keep writing! So, thanks for reading, and see you next week.
> 
> Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.


	9. Matchmaker gone wrong

**Chapter 9: Matchmaker gone wrong.**

Amanda was in her room, doing homework for once in her life. It was a quiet Friday evening just after curfew, and despite having to somehow decipher all those stupid numbers for her Numerology class, she truthfully couldn’t concentrate. Her thoughts kept drifting to Hannah, and to the date they’d have the next day.

She was nervous and excited, but she also felt dread. After spending so much time with Hannah as just herself, especially the day when they went broom dancing, she knew it’d be a lot more difficult to keep lying. To pretend to be someone else who didn’t know her half as well as she did now.

Maybe she should tell her the truth.

It scared her, but it was probably for the best. Not only had her friends been pressuring her about it, but Diana had been continuing with her daily threats, and now even her own conscience was putting pressure on her.

And really, what would be the harm? If she had interpreted the signs correctly Hannah seemed to like her. They not only got along pretty well when they were alone, but she seemed to respond positively to her teasing; blushing, getting all nervous and adorable, and she also didn’t seem _too_ opposed to a little bit of physical contact.

But then again, maybe she was reading too much into things. Maybe it was her hopeful heart playing tricks of her. Maybe Hannah didn’t care for her nearly enough to not kill her as soon as she revealed the truth.

Ugh! What should she do?!

As if answering her silent question, a knock sounded on her door in that moment. It was past curfew though, so she assumed it was Akko or someone else from the red team, and she thanked the Nine for the distraction… except when she opened the door she found someone she hadn’t been expecting.

“Hey, Amanda. Can I come in?” Barbara greeted, giving her a smile. Okay, at least she wasn’t threatening her with painful spells, so she probably hadn’t figured out her secret yet.

“Sure.” She said, stepping aside and allowing her to pass before closing the door behind her. “Want to sit?” She then asked, gesturing to her own bed… which was full of dirty clothes, but whatever.

“Thanks.” Barbara answered, pushing some clothes aside and sitting down on the mattress, staring at Amanda with an unreadable expression.

“Uhm… Did you want something?” The American asked awkwardly, after all they’d never really talked that much, and her two teammates were down at Constanze’s workshop, so she would have to go fetch them if Barbara wanted to talk to one of them.

“I know about Arthur.” The girl went directly to the point, making an unpleasant chill run down Amanda’s spine, but she still tried to play dumb.

“W-what about him?” She sweated visibly.

“You are Arthur.” The way she said it, with absolute confidence and a nonchalant tone Amanda didn’t know how to interpret, it actually made her shiver, and she had to take a seat before her legs failed her. After all, Barbara was Hannah’s best friend! Surely she would tell her, if she hadn’t done so already.

“L-look… I-I… I don’t….” She started, trying to defend herself, but Barbara raised a hand indicating silence.

“It was so obvious.” She smiled, rolling her eyes. “That picture already looked too much like you, but it couldn’t be a coincidence that you started making googly eyes at Hannah just after her date with your supposed brother.”

“I d-don’t make googly eyes!” She answered, blushing, but Barbara just gave her a deadpan expression. “I don’t.”

“Right. Anyways, unlike Diana, I’m not here to threaten your life.”

“You’re not?” This girl was getting more and more confusing by the second. Amanda had already considered herself a dead woman.

“No, but I do think you should tell Hannah the truth. And _soon_.”

“Yeah. I know.” Amanda sighed upon hearing yet again the same thing everyone had been telling her. “I want to, really, but…” She grimaced. “I just don’t want Hannah to hate me, you know?”

“Yes, I imagined that was what was holding you back, so, in case you’re as oblivious as you seem, I came here to break it to you: Hannah likes you.”

“She does?!” The American almost jumped in surprise and happiness upon hearing such words, but before she could get too excited about it, Barbara continued.

“Yes, but there’s a little problem.”

“Oh, come on!”

“She doesn’t know it yet.” She finished, giving her an apologetic smile.

“Then how the hell do _you_ know it?”

“I’ve known her for years, seen her have crushes on multiple boys, and yes, she likes Arthur a descent amount, but…” She paused, smiling. “The way she talks about you lately… it’s _different._ ”

“She talks about me?” Amanda couldn’t help the disbelieving tone she used.

“Oh, yes. She wouldn’t shut up the day you two went broom dancing!” She giggled. “Gosh, she was so annoying, and most of what she said were complaints about how reckless you were, and what a show off you were, and how amazing everything you did was, and how strong you must be to pull all that off…” She trailed off, giving Amanda a significant look. “It was just like how she talked about Arthur, honestly.”

“B-but… we still can’t be sure, right? I mean, yeah, I’ve noticed some signals too, but… what if we’re misinterpreting her feelings?” Amanda answered, trying not to get her hopes too high, but if she was being honest, they had already been blown straight through the stratosphere.

The fall would surely hurt.

“Hannah can be difficult to read, I’ll admit that.” Barbara said. “Your case is particularly problematic because she hasn’t come to terms with her sexuality yet, but I’m here because I want to make a deal.”

“A deal?” Amanda raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll talk to her, and try to investigate if she likes girls and, in particular, if she likes you.”

“Alright… but be subtle, okay?” She requested apprehensively.

“Of course.” She rolled her eyes. “Now, in exchange, you have to tell her the truth as soon as I discover her true feelings about you, regardless of what they are, deal?”

“Ahm…” Amanda hesitated upon seeing the extended hand. Sure, she had thought about _maybe_ coming clean the next day, and the deadline Diana imposed was getting closer anyways, but to have yet another reason to tell her soon? It was nerve-wracking. “I’ll think about it, aright? I’ll have an answer for you by tomorrow before midday.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

It was a Saturday morning when Hannah found herself thinking about Arthur and the date they would have that evening. Thoughts of how much fun they’d have and how well he kissed and all that stuff were plaguing her mind, sure, but also thoughts about his sister.

Amanda. What an interesting girl, that one. She had always considered her little more than a fool, and spared her just a few annoyed glances before turning away in disgust. But that had been the old Hannah, the mean one that was only appearance.

The _real_ Hannah had actually befriended that fool, even knowing the girl had a crush on her. And she had had fun. They had laughed, they had cried, and they had formed some sort of bond these past few days. Sure, it was nothing near as strong as what she had with Barbara, but it could grow if she let it.

But she didn’t know if she _wanted_ to let it grow. Not while knowing Amanda liked her to some degree. She honestly wasn’t sure of what she would do if Amanda formerly confessed, and she had been considering asking Arthur about her dilemma.

But what if he got mad? What if he hated her for giving his sister false hope? Worse! What if he thought she’d been cheating on him with Amanda?!

Honestly, her friendship with Amanda was giving her more concerns and doubts than anything. And yet, for some reason, she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about that stupid American with her stupid smirk and her stupid green eyes, and her stupid muscles, and…

“Hannah? Are you okay?” Barbara asked from her spot laying on her bed with a Nightfall volume on her hands, since she apparently preferred to read the latest installment of the series first and study second. Hannah, on the other hand, was sitting on their couch also trying to read a book (a school-related one, unlike _other_ people), but failing due to the distracting thoughts about Arthur and Amanda that kept popping up in her mind uninvited.

“Why do you ask?” Hannah smiled, not wanting to reveal what she had been thinking about.

“You’ve been sighing nonstop for several minutes now.” Her friend deadpanned as she sat up on the bed and looked at her intently, clearly conveying she knew something was wrong and wasn’t going to leave her alone until she opened up.

“It’s nothing.” Hannah surprised them both with her answer, since normally the two girls shared everything. It’s just… recently they’d been growing apart, and Hannah didn’t feel so comfortable anymore telling her things, since she wondered if she’d share them with Lotte.

“Hannah.” This time it was Barbara who sighed, finally climbing off her bed and going to sit next to her friend. “Don’t be like that. I’m just trying to help.” Barbara tried to grab her hand in a comforting gesture, but Hannah pulled away as soon as she noticed, not daring to look at her friend in the eyes.

“I know, but it’s… personal.” She answered curtly, frowning at the ground. It hurt her not being open with her best friend, practically her sister, who she had known all her life. Like, since when did anything _personal_ not involve the two of them?! They didn’t feel like two halves of one whole anymore, and that scared her.

“Is this because of Lotte?” Barbara asked, and Hannah internally lamented that she knew her so well.

“… No.” It wasn’t completely a lie. Her original issue had nothing to do with Lotte, but her issue with Barbara on the other hand…

“Hannah, you know I love you, right?” Now, why did her heart clench painfully upon hearing those words? They were supposed to make her happy! “I’m not trying to replace you. You’re still my friend.”

“Yeah. That’s the problem.” Hannah couldn’t hold back the bitter tone she used. “We used to be _more_ than just friends.”

“Oh. Wow, Hannah, I didn’t know you felt that way about me.”

It took said girl a couple of seconds to realize what her friend had just implied, but when she did she blushed and all but rushed to correct her.

“No! I don’t! Not like that. I meant… I…”

“I know.” Barbara giggled, “I was just teasing you.”

“Ugh. I hate you.” She pouted. But Barbara’s little joke did seem to have lightened up the atmosphere between the two, which had probably been her intention.

“We’re still best friends, Hannah.” She assured her, placing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a half-hug, and despite herself, Hannah allowed her to give her the closeness she’d so desperately missed. “Just because I’m spending more time with Lotte and you with Amanda, it doesn’t mean we love each other any less.”

“I still miss you though.” Hannah answered honestly, wrapping her arms around Barbara’s waist like she always did.

“We should go out soon. Just the two of us.”

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

A beat passed in comfortable silence, but it was quickly broken by Barbara, still wanting to make sure everything was fine between them.

“I’m sorry I didn’t realize sooner that my relationship with Lotte was making you jealous.”

“It’s okay. We just need to spend a little more time just the two of us and I’ll be happy.” Hannah assured her, after all she didn’t want to rob Barbara of spending time with other people. She had the right to have more friends after all, even if she did get irrationally jealous for it. “And just to make it clear, I wasn’t jealous like _that_.” She felt the urge to add, remembering Barbara’s teasing from earlier.

“But it would be okay, you know? If you liked me. Or a girl. Any girl. I’m not talking about anyone in particular.”

“Huh?” That wasn’t at all the answer she had been expecting. Barbara was clearly implying something. Wait… did she suspect she was gay? Just because she had been hanging out with Amanda lately? Was this what it was all about? “I don’t like Amanda!” She all but yelled as she let go of her friend and separated a bit to look her straight in the eyes.

“I didn’t say anything.” She answered innocently, raising her hands up in surrender. “But with Diana finally coming out of the closet the other day, I wouldn’t be surprised if you…”

“Don’t you dare finish that thought!” She pretty much snarled.

“Why not? I mean, _I’m_ bisexual.”

“Wait… you are?” Now she was more confused than anything. She had always thought she and Barbara were the straightest girls in existence, always gushing about handsome guys. So it was no surprise that she suddenly felt like she didn’t know her friend at all.

“Yeah. Not a big deal.” She shrugged. “I discovered it when I found myself shipping Bridgette with Anabelle.”

“Isn’t Bridgette the Nightfall character inspired by you?” Hannah asked, remembering having heard Lotte say something like that. Upon receiving a simple nod, she paused. She had never thought her friend was anything other than straight… and she was very surprised to realize how much this new development bothered her.

“You’re making a weird face.” Barbara commented. “Please don’t freak out. I’m still the same, just like Diana.”

And that _was_ true. Barbara was still the same girl she knew, the same friend she cherished so dearly. It hadn’t bothered her when Diana came out as gay to them just a few days prior. But with Barbara? It was just different. She couldn’t remember the last time she thought of them as separate entities. It was always two. Always ‘we’, never ‘I’. It felt like she didn’t know _herself_ , as ridiculous as that was.

But like, just because Barbara was bisexual it didn’t mean that Hannah was too, right? Yeah, she’d been spending a lot of her time with a gay girl lately, but that still didn’t mean anything! She liked Arthur! She liked _men_.

But so did Barbara. And yet, the girl she thought she knew better than the palm of her hand, somehow liked girls too.

“L-look, I just realized I’ve got something to do. See you later!”

“Han? Hannah!” Barbara called after her as she pretty much bolted out of the room without sparing her another glance. But it was too late. She was already gone.

Amanda stood at the Leyline terminal dressed like a man. She had chosen to wear a similar outfit than last time, except her shirt was red instead of green. It was Saturday, of course, the day of her second date with Hannah, except… something was weird. They had texted each other the day prior and agreed to meet around two, but that morning around ten Hannah had called her requesting to meet as soon as possible. She had sounded strange too. Excited, sure, but also… agitated. Which was why she was here now, at eleven thirty, waiting for her date.

She just hoped everything was alright, but she had her suspicions as to what had gone wrong.

Amanda just hoped that, whatever had happened, wouldn’t ruin their date. Because she had already planned quite a few things to make it as fun as possible. By the end of it, she was sure Hannah would absolutely love Arthur… which was actually bittersweet. Because, yes, Hannah was smitten with her imaginary brother, but not with _her_.

… Right?

Even if her responses to her blatant flirting these past few days indicated otherwise.

Maybe she did like her, after all. Maybe she just had to be honest about the whole thing.

But what if she hated her? What if…?

Just then, a flash of green light shined within the Leyline terminal, indicating someone had arrived, and Amanda instinctively ran and hid behind the stone structure, having a little sense of déjà vu when she saw Hannah come out of it… strangely wearing a simple light pink shirt and white denim shorts. She had thought she’d put even more effort on her appearance this time around, but then again maybe she hadn’t had the time to pick something nicer, and anyways the girl looked beautiful no matter what she was wearing.

But upon seeing her, upon remembering all the time they’d spent together the past few days, a nasty feeling settled in her stomach.

She looked down at her masculine clothes masking her true identity and she realized… she couldn’t keep doing this to Hannah. She couldn’t lie to her face anymore. She couldn’t pretend to be someone she wasn’t. Not after having formed a bond with that girl and gaining her trust. Before, she had been nothing but a pretty girl, who was also kinda mean and worshiped the soil Diana walked though. But now… now she was her friend. They had talked, they had laughed, they had gotten in trouble together and they had gotten to know each other. It just didn’t feel right. It’d be like lying to Consey or Jasna, only worse because she liked _liked_ Hannah.

No. She couldn’t do this. She had to make it right. It was now or never.

Cancelling the spell, she took a few deep breaths in preparation, but she already knew nothing was going to calm down the thousands of butterflies that appeared in her stomach upon making that decision, or make her palms stop sweating. She felt like she was falling down from her broom with no control whatsoever, all because of one stupid mistake. And now only Hannah could either save her or let her fall.

“Hey, Hannah.” She said, finally stepping out of her hiding place. She wore an awkward smile, unsure about how things would go now.

“Oh. Amanda.” Hannah said, turning to regard her for one second before fixing her gaze on the town once more, from where she no doubt hoped her prince in shining armor would appear at any moment. “Did you just come in? I didn’t hear the Leyline open.”

“Actually, I’ve been here for a while.” She paused, pursing her lips. She had no idea how she was going to reveal the truth. Should she just blurt it out? No, that sounded like something Akko would do. Surely it was better to ease her slowly into it, right?

“Really? Were you waiting for someone?” Hannah still wasn’t looking at her, even when Amanda stepped forward in order to stand by her side.

“I was waiting for you.” She decided to tell the truth. No more lies. Not anymore.

“For me?” Finally, Hannah teared her gaze away from the horizon and turned to regard Amanda, wearing a confused expression. “You know I have a date with Arthur today, right?”

“Look, I just want to talk.”

“Can’t it wait? I’m going to see Arthur right now, and I’d very much prefer if we are alone when that happens, so…”

“Hannah, I’m not going away until I tell you something I’ve been meaning to say for quite some time. I-I…” she swallowed. “I wanted to tell you sooner, but…”

“Right now it’s not the time for that conversation.” She cut her off hastily, choosing to stare ahead once more, likely misinterpreting what Amanda had wanted to say.

“Hannah, listen…”

“What part of ‘I don’t have time for this right now’ do you not understand?” She pretty much snarled at her before turning around once more and walking away, towards the town. “Get lost, O’Neill.”

Okay. That was harsh, even for Hannah. Something was definitely going on… but it really didn’t matter, did it? She had made her decision and she wasn’t going to back down now.

“You want to talk to Arthur instead? Fine, here’s Arthur.” Amanda got out her wand in one swift movement and pronounced the spell, changing her clothes once more. “Metamorphie Vestesse.”

Slowly, Hannah turned around once she heard the spell, but when her eyes finally landed on Amanda, she gasped and her hands covered her mouth. Then, she continued to look at her, her eyes traveling up and down as if hoping it was all an illusion, as if she wanted to blink and see something different than to what she was seeing right now.

“I’m Arthur, Hannah.” Amanda said, looking down in shame. “I wanted to tell you sooner, really, I just…”

“Y-you!” Hannah took a step back as she let her hands fall limply to her sides. “You lied to me!” Now she was livid, her eyes raging with barely contained anger, and her posture stiff as a rock.

“I’m sorry.” Was all Amanda could say, feeling as her eyes began to sting with unshed tears and a knot formed on her throat upon seeing her friend’s angry expression.

“Were you just using me? Was this all a sick prank?!” She continued accusing, now marching towards her and stopping just centimeters away, practically radiating fury. Truth to be told, Amanda felt rather small and pathetic upon such sight. Like a disgusting insect. Even if the accusations couldn’t be more false.

“N-No! I would never…”

“Fuck you, O’Neill! Fuck you!” And with those foul words that Amanda had never thought she’d hear from the usually proper girl, Hannah started walking past her and towards the Leyline terminal, but before she could get too far, she was stopped by a hand grabbing her wrist.

“Hannah, wait!”

And then it was all pain as a firm hand landed on Amanda’s cheek, the echo of the hit seemingly resonating through her whole body, reaching her heart and shattering it into pieces.

Still, she chanced one last glance at the object of both her adoration and her pain.

Hannah was also looking at her, an enraged expression still clearly on her face, but also… tears started falling and her lips quivered as she let out a stifled sob, sadness being now the most prominent emotion on her features, even if shivers of deep anger still remained.

And then she ran. And this time Amanda didn’t try to stop her.

It was only when she saw a green flash of light come from the Leyline that she finally collapsed on her knees and let her own tears and sobs flow freely from inside her.

She had fucked up so hard. She deserved to be slapped a hundred times over. She wished she could go back in time and mend her errors.

But she couldn’t.

And now she was suffering just a fraction of the pain she had caused Hannah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... we've reached the drama portion of the story. What do you think? Maybe Hannah will forgive her, maybe not, but I guess you'll have to wait till next chapter to find out ;) In the meantime, please leave a comment/kudos because they really inspire me to keep writing, and I greatly appreciate them. See you soon!
> 
> Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.


	10. The aftermath

**Chapter 10: The aftermath**

Hannah sat alone under a tree, hugging her knees and sobbing from time to time. She had been there for what felt like hours now. She still couldn’t believe Amanda would do something like that to her. Why lie? Why pretend to be a man just to woo her? Because she found her attractive? Had she really thought that by pretending to be a man she’d win her over? All she had done was hurt her and made her hate her! She truly didn’t want to have to see her again.

But the worst part wasn’t even that she had fallen for Arthur. It had been only one date, after all, they were still getting to know each other, and though she wanted it to turn into love with time, they hadn’t been there just yet.

No. The worst part was that she had foolishly started seeing Amanda as her friend. She had laughed at her silly jokes, she’d endured her teasing and her pranks, they had shared stories, spent time together… and yet Amanda kept lying. Kept hurting her, more and more.

Amanda… what an infuriating girl she was. Hannah _wanted_ to hate her. She wanted to punch her stupid face, to make her suffer like she had made _her_ suffer. But at the same time… gosh, at the same time, when she remembered those kind green eyes that just the other day had looked at her with affection and longing… she couldn’t bring herself to truly hate her. We all do crazy things for love, don’t we? But still, she was angry, she was sad, but most of all, she was confused.

She had fallen in love with a girl. Yes, a girl disguised as a man, but a girl nonetheless. She had noticed something feminine about Arthur but she hadn’t cared. She had kissed her and she’d liked it. And she had even wondered if Arthur and Amanda were the same person, but just refused to accept the obvious truth.

Why did Amanda dressed like a man have to be so _perfect_?! Seriously, she had never met a man in her life that made her feel the way Amanda did. Sure, she’d had her crushes, but nothing like this.

And that scared her.

Because, if _Barbara_ could be bisexual without her knowing, so could sh-

She cut off that thought hastily. It wouldn’t do her any good to think like that.

Even if in the future she discovered she liked girls (and that was a big _if_ ), there was no way she’d give Amanda another chance. Not after everything she’d done.

“Hey, Hannah. I didn’t know you were here.” Hannah timidly looked up and found Jasminka there, a bag of potato chips on her hands and a kind smile on her face, as always. Still, she didn’t want anyone to see her cry, much less one of Amanda’s friends.

“Jas. I’m not feeling well, so…” She trailed off, not wanting to outright tell the sweet girl to just go away.

“Want a candy?” Jasminka asked, sitting next to her and offering her a candy wrapped in pink paper. Now, Hannah wasn’t very fond of candies, but she would be a fool to reject one of Jasminka’s sweets. After all, the girl was famous for her food magic.

“Sure.” She tried to smile, but she was sure it didn’t look too convincing.

As soon as she put the candy in her mouth, however, she was instantly met with a delicious strawberry flavor, but not only that; her pain diminished instantly, like it was a sort of balm for the heart.

“Thanks, Jas. I feel better now.” She said honestly, and though emotionally she still felt like she had been run over by a truck, it was like a few days had passed instead of a few hours. It still hurt, but not on an excruciating level, and she could think more clearly now.

“You’re welcome. It’s a special recipe I invented.” She informed, always smiling. “I eat one whenever I feel sad.”

“ _You_ feel sad?” Hannah hadn’t meant to sound so surprised, but she just couldn’t help it. The last person she’d expect to feel sadness, _ever_ , was Jasminka.

“Sometimes I miss home.” She confessed. “But not so much anymore; Amanda and Constanze are good company.”

“Yeah… Amanda.” She grimaced as she said her name. Like it was a particularly nasty word.

“Did something happen?” Jasminka inquired innocently. “You two have gotten pretty close lately, right? But you seem upset.”

“It’s nothing.” Hannah tried to deny the obvious, but unsurprisingly Jasminka didn’t believe her.

“Amanda can be difficult sometimes. She’s impulsive, brash, and has a tendency for trouble.” She giggled, a fond expression appearing on her face as she thought about her friend. “But she has a heart of gold. So, even if she made a mistake, you should know all her actions come from a good place.”

“But… she hurt me! She… she lied to me.” Hannah found herself saying, despite her original intention being not sharing anything.

“I’m sure that wasn’t her intention. And that it hurts her almost as much as it does you.” The girl said as she munched another potato, before offering one to Hannah, who took it without hesitation.

“I hope so. She certainly deserves it.” She answered bitterly.

“You should give her a chance to explain herself. Talk things over. If you don’t, it will just hurt you both in the long run.”

Hannah didn’t want to admit it, but sometimes Jasminka could be pretty wise, and not only when it comes to food, which is probably one of the reasons she had started to get along with her quicker than with anyone else from the red or green teams. In this case, she was right as well. She knew she couldn’t avoid Amanda forever, and it would certainly do her some good to hear from the girl herself why she’d done what she’d done, and maybe try and be more understanding. It would also be cathartic for her to get her feelings out… without having to resort to physical violence like earlier.

So yes, Jasminka was right. She’d have to talk to Amanda sooner or later, but she didn’t feel ready just yet.

“Did you two fight?” Jasminka kept inquiring, no doubt worried about her friend.

“Something like that.”

“Don’t worry, conflicts between friends happen all the time, but they usually get resolved if they care for each other enough.” She gave her another one of her kind smiles that honestly seemed to be too pure for this world, along with a potato that Hannah munched happily. “I'm sure you’ve fought with Barbara too, right? And your bond still remains strong as ever.”

“Yeah…” Hannah trailed off, remembering their conversation from that morning. They had solved their issues regarding Lotte, sure, but that had been mostly because of her own irrational jealousy. But when Barbara came out to her… gosh, she’d panicked so hard, and called Arthur in a stupid attempt to forget about the whole thing, at least for now. But… she’d looked like a total jerk, hadn’t she? Perhaps even homophobic too.

She just hoped Barbara hadn’t gotten the wrong idea; she still loved her more than anything, really! But she had to make things right, and it would also be a welcomed distraction from the whole Amanda thing.

“Thanks Jas, really, you were great help.” She said, getting up and dusting off her shorts. “But I just remembered there’s something I need to do.”

“Anytime.”

Hannah entered her bedroom and peered around, looking for her friend. As expected, she was at the sofa with Lotte, drinking tea and chatting animatedly, most likely about Nightfall. Now, this wasn’t a conversation Hannah wanted to have with Lotte there, but she also didn’t want to chase the girl away when they were having such a good time… this was a stupid idea. She should probably go mope somewhere else and come back later.

“Hannah?” Barbara called as she saw her hesitating at the door. Now having been caught, she raised her gaze to meet her friend’s eyes and tried to give her a tiny smile… but then Barbara’s eyes widened and she got up instantly, going towards her. “What happened, Han? Have you been crying?”

“N-no, I…” She tried to deny the obvious truth, but upon seeing Barbara’s eyes, so concerned, so caring even after how she’d ended their conversation from earlier, she felt new tears forming in her eyes, and when her friend hugged her she couldn’t help letting them fall as sobs started shaking her body. She didn’t even care Lotte was there, she just needed Barbara’s comforting warmth like a tiny flame in a harsh winter.

At some point, however, Lotte excused herself and Barbara led Hannah to the couch, where they sat as the auburn-haired girl cried into her friend’s shoulder. She had no idea how much time passed, or how many reassuring words Barbara said, but little by little her sobs receded and she was able to look at her in the eyes once more, finally having composed herself enough to speak.

“Barbs, I… I just…”

“Did something happen with Am- with Arthur?” Barbara interrupted before she could get out her apology. Damn, that girl knew her too well.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” At least not just yet.

“Han…”

“Listen, about this morning…” She paused, biting her lip. “I’m sorry I reacted like I did. It’s okay if you’re bisexual, really, it just… I kinda freaked out.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Barbara chuckled. “It was weird, so different to your reaction when Diana came out.”

“I know…” She frowned. “I’m still not sure why I reacted the way I did. With Diana… I mean she’s my friend too, but we’ve never been so close. But with you…” She trailed off, sighing. “I don’t know, I guess I kinda felt like, if you were bisexual and I didn’t know it, maybe I could…” Hannah then cut herself off hastily, unwilling to give a voice to the thought that had been plaguing her all day. But Barbara still caught on what she’d meant to say.

“Be bisexual too?” Barbara finished for her.

“I don’t know!” Hannah threw her arms up in the air in frustration. “I’ve never thought that way about girls, I don’t think so, but then Am-” Again, she cut herself off, and one more time she didn’t need to say any more for Barbara to understand.

“You like Amanda.” It wasn’t a question, and her friend’s eyes were filled with understanding, but also something else… pity, perhaps, like she already knew why Hannah couldn’t let herself fall for the mischievous American.

“I really don’t.” She kept denying stubbornly.

“So, I guess I imagined all the times I caught you staring at her instead of paying attention to class? And the way you talked about her certainly wasn’t filled with barely concealed affection.” She teased.

“Barbs! You’re not helping!” Hannah pretty much yelled, trying to deny on her head all the facts her friend had just brought up as proof for her infatuation, but… there was really no point. As much as she loathed to admit it, Amanda sparked in her feelings she had never thought herself to be capable of feeling. As both Arthur and Amanda. And she hated her even more for that.

“I’m just telling you what I saw, Hannah. And truth to be told, Amanda isn’t a bad catch! She’s beautiful and handsome at the same time, has a rebellious attitude that is actually kind of charming, and she’s also a good witch when she puts any effort at all.” She paused, smiling as she continued listing all the qualities of who she knew to be her friend’s first serious crush. “Most importantly though, she’s a good friend. And I think she cares a whole lot about you.”

“Yeah, I know, but…” Hannah paused, feeling as tears started burning on her eyes once again upon remembering the reason of her heartbreak. “But she _lied_ to me, Barbs!” A sob escaped her mouth and tears started falling once again, her chest aching from the bitter wound of betrayal still fresh in her heart. “She… she was Arthur all along, and… I-I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive her for that.”

“Here.” Barbara said as she handed her a tissue.

“Thanks.” She blew her nose.

“I know, you probably feel terrible right now, and I’m not saying that what Amanda did wasn’t pretty bad, but… honestly, I know you will forgive her in time.”

“Yeah, no. Not happening.” Hannah insisted stubbornly, although she deep down knew her friend was telling the truth. But the pain still growing inside her wouldn’t allow anything but her negative emotions to surface.

“You’re angry now, but once you calm down and think things over, you’ll realize she’s not the monster you’re making her out to be.” Barbara paused, caressing gently Hannah’s hair in a comforting gesture that actually managed to calm her inner demons a little bit. Enough for her too keep listening without protesting.

“Love is not an easy thing to find, and I really think what you have with Amanda could grow into something beautiful if you gave it a chance. Don’t throw it all way because of silly resentments. Forgive and move on.”

… Forgive and move on, huh? What a weird concept.

She didn’t think she’d practiced it herself nearly as much as she should have. She was the type to hold a grudge for even for the smallest things, to give harsh judgments and form drastic opinions. She had hated her sister for years now, she had resented her mother, she had blamed her father, and she had broken up many friendships in the past over the smallest of things. At the end though, all that was left was an empty feeling. At the end, the one she hurt most was herself.

Maybe it was time to take a page from Akko’s book. Akko, the silly girl she’d belittled so much just because of her origins, the one who had forgiven her without a moment’s hesitation as soon as she apologized… and the same could be said of Lotte and Sucy! Although with Sucy she was still a bit weary, expecting retaliation, but still! They had forgiven her even if she really didn’t deserve it. Maybe it was her turn to forgive someone too. We all make mistakes after all, no? She’d be a hypocrite to pretend otherwise.

And even as she considered the idea, she felt the burden inside her chest diminish considerably, and it became easier for her to breathe.

Who would have thought Barbara was capable of speaking with such wisdom?

“Was that a Nightfall reference?” Hannah joked, the tiniest of smiles finally appearing on her face.

“Yes.” Barbara answered, giggling. “It doesn’t make it any less true, though.”

“I should have known.” She then answered, her smile growing a little wider. “Thanks Barbs.” Hannah proceeded to lay her head on her friend’s shoulder. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I love you, Han.” She answered, wrapping her arms around her in a loving embrace.

“I love you too.”

Amanda laid on her back under the Philosopher’s stone, her expression blank and her eyes fixed on the glowing rock above her. A part of her wished it would suddenly fall down and crush her, honestly. That’s how bad she felt.

She had lost count of how much time had passed since she’d come to that place, but considering it was already dark outside, she suspected it was a lot. Thankfully, almost no one ever went there, and it was easily accessible with her broom, so here she would remain unbothered for at least a few more hours. Hopefully a few more days, because honestly she felt too exhausted to even _think_ about getting up. And she hadn’t even done any exercise! Just laying there, crying. Like the pathetic little shit she was.

This was why she hadn’t wanted to tell Hannah sooner, but then again, at the end of the day she had just been delaying the inevitable, and if she had let it go on any longer, it would have surely been worse for both of them.

But that was little comfort. Her heart ached like a thousand Morowa spells had hit it at the same time. Her eyes were wet and puffy and burning like they’d caught fire, and her throat felt so sore and dry she wondered if she would ever be able to speak again.

And yet, she didn’t feel sorry for herself. She deserved all of that and more.

She had royally fucked up, she knew that. She should have told Hannah the truth as soon as she displayed an interest to dating her fake brother. Sure, she would have probably rejected her, and they would have never gone on a date and become real friends, but… at least they wouldn’t be hurting right now.

Because she was sure Hannah was hurting too. Because of her.

Just then, she heard someone land somewhere to her left, but she didn’t bother looking to see who it was. She didn’t care, honestly. She just hoped they would leave her alone if she played dead.

No such luck. Soon enough, she heard steps going towards her and in her field of vision appeared a familiar face, surrounded by a mane of blond hair that seemed to shine in the dark night. It, of course, belonged to one of the people she wanted to see the least right now. Just wonderful.

“If you came to kill me, please make it quick.” Amanda said dramatically as she threw her arm over her eyes.

“You know you’re out after curfew, right?” Diana responded in a disapproving tone. “I’m afraid I’ll have to report you to the teachers.”

“Yeah, sure. Do whatever you want, Cavendish. Just leave me alone.” Honestly, she wasn’t in the mood to deal with the uptight girl right now.

A few seconds of silence passed, and for a moment Amanda dared to hope that, maybe, the blonde aristocrat had actually taken the hint and flied away. But then she heard her annoying voice once more.

“Hannah came crying to our room this evening. I don’t suppose you know anything about it, do you?”

Amanda actually felt a pang of pain on her chest when Diana mentioned Hannah crying, but she still tried to play it cool, not wanting to appear vulnerable in front of the other girl.

“Ask _her_ , she’s your friend. I’m sure she’s already told you what a horrible person I am.” She answered in a miserable tone.

“She did. But I wanted to hear it from you.” By her disapproving tone Amanda could tell she had already formed a pretty negative opinion, but she still tried to explain herself, more so for her own sake than Diana’s.

“What else is there to tell? I’m a despicable monster that took advantage of her and asked her out on a date, went along with her shenanigans and showed her how to have some fun.” She sighed, finally removing her arm from her eyes and looking directly at Diana’s stoic face. “I only wanted to get to know her, to see if there was something behind that brat façade, and there was, and... I don’t know. I never meant to hurt her.”

“You shouldn’t have lied then.” Diana answered, angry.

“I _know._ Gosh, why does everyone keeps telling me that? I know I shouldn’t have lied, damnit! But sometimes you do some pretty dumb things when you lo-” She cut herself off hastily, and Diana raised an eyebrow at her, no doubt knowing full well what she had almost said. And Amanda ended up blushing, because it was pretty dumb to say you love someone when the two of you have only been on speaking terms for one week. But then again, she was quite dumb. “W-when… when you _like_ someone.” She tried to amend. “And I do like Hannah, and I really didn’t want to hurt her, but it doesn’t matter anymore because she probably hates me now, so please leave me alone so I can mope in peace.” And with that said, she dropped her arm over her eyes once more, hoping Diana would take the hint this time.

But of course, the blonde went and sat right beside her, on the ground, something Amanda hadn’t expected the always proper Diana Cavendish to do, so she decided to look at her once more, curious as to what she was going to say.

“I understand you, believe it or not.” She started. “For one, I too care deeply about someone.”

“Yeah, you like Akko. Old news.” Amanda rolled her eyes.

“I do.” The blonde answered, blushing and with a shy smile on her face. “And yet I can’t bring myself to confess my feelings towards such a peculiar girl.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re a coward. Any blind person can see Akko would die for a piece of that ass.” So the pain still deep inside her was making her talk rather crudely, but hopefully it wouldn’t offend the aristocrat too much.

“Please refrain from making such expressions.” Diana immediately chastised her, as expected, before resuming her little speech. “Anyways, yes, Akko very probably harbors feelings towards me that go beyond friendship, although I still can’t tell for sure.”

“Right.” Geez, how useless was this girl!

“But I, much like you, made a mistake that hurt her deeply.” Diana continued, ignoring her sarcastic remark. “I allowed Hannah and Barbara to bully her, I didn’t even bat an eye when the teachers belittled her unfairly and, I shamefully admit, I myself humiliated her and underestimated a couple of times.”

“Yeah, but Akko is Akko. She forgave you for all of that _ages_ ago.” She sighed.

“That may be true, but it still taught me a lesson; that if I can do anything to spare her any pain at all, I won’t hesitate to do so.”

“Where are you getting at, Cavendish?” Amanda asked, not knowing what any of this had to do with her problem with Hannah, and lacking the energy to try and figure out the riddle.

“The real reason I haven’t confessed to Akko yet is because I know she has to work though some things on her own before she’s able to fully reciprocate my feelings.” She paused, looking intently at Amanda as if trying to discern if she was following her, but when she was met with a blank expression, she decided to elaborate.

“Akko comes from a culture where homosexuality is not as widely accepted as within the witching community. More so, I don’t think she’s fully realized she likes girls yet… assuming that’s even the case at all. If I were to confess right now I’d only manage to cause her suffering.” She then kept looking at Amanda, probably wanting her to say something, but honestly the American was too tired to try and decipher what she was trying to say, so she only took what she understood by face value.

“Right. So I fucked up by trying to make Hannah like me when she still wasn’t aware of her sexuality. I thought we’d already stablished that.”

“What I’m trying to say, O’Neill, is…” Diana continued, this time in a much more exasperated tone. “… let her come to you when she’s ready. Don’t try to force things again.”

“Huh?” Wait… Diana wasn’t going to threaten her with a painful death if she ever came close to Hannah again?

“Hannah may be resentful, but I can see she does care about you for reasons that are beyond me.” The blonde continued. “She will forgive you eventually, I’m sure, but until then if you come near you’ll only cause her more pain, so I came here to ask you to be patient.”

Now, Amanda couldn’t deny her words gave her hope, because if she said such things, Hannah surely hadn’t talked about her like she was a heartless monster (as she’d feared), but she still couldn’t help being a bit skeptical.

“You really are giving me free dating advice about one of your friends? What’s the catch?”

“The catch…” Diana smiled, but it was a cold smile, only intensified by those menacing blue eyes that seemed to be two pistol lasers aimed right at her head. “The catch is that, if you hurt her like that ever again, I’ll make sure your death will be slow and painful.”

Presented with such a threat, Amanda could only gulp and stare as Diana finally got up and went to fetch her broom. But before the blonde flew off into the dark sky, she looked at Amanda once more and spoke.

“Remember: be patient.”

And then, she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there's only one chapter left! And then we will finally see if Hannah can forgive Amanda or not. But given her personality... yeah, things don't look good for Amanda, do they? But who knows? Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a comment/kudos if you liked it :)
> 
> Also, fun fact, the inspiration for this chapter came from am image that was uploaded on the LWA reddit, in which Hannah is crying and Jasminka is giving her a potato chip. Here's the link to imgur: https://i.imgur.com/LwAlud5.jpg 
> 
> Edit: Here's also the link to the artist's page (They have NSFW content though, so be warned): https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/70247198
> 
> Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.


	11. She's the man

**Chapter 11: She's the man.**

Hannah was walking towards her next class with her two teammates, who were talking about some assignment they had for the next day. Honestly, she wasn't paying attention. She hadn't been able to pay attention to anything lately, her thoughts invariably drifting towards certain red-haired American she didn't dare mention out loud.

She had given a lot of thought to the issue, trying to discern her true thoughts and feelings from what she had been indoctrinated to believe, and she had come to more than a few realizations.

First, she was bisexual. She liked boys, yes, but she also liked girls. As soon as she let herself _actually_ look at girls (without trying to find something to criticize or insult), she realized she did find them attractive. Their delicate faces, their curves, their legs, it all made her heart race as much as did a chiseled chin and lean muscles when she saw them on men.

It took her a while, and a couple of existential crisis, but with the help of her friends she had finally accepted she was bisexual.

Okay, so she liked girls. The next step had been deciphering her feelings for Amanda.

Ugh. Amanda.

Honestly, she tended shut herself off whenever someone mentioned her. Which was especially awkward because they still had all their meals with the red and green teams, and she could feel the girl's eyes on her the whole time. But, even if she hated to admit it, she couldn't stop thinking about her.

She liked her; she knew that much now. But she was also angry, and sad, and she honestly wasn't ready to talk to her yet, as much as her friends tried to encourage her to do so.

But she also knew she couldn't postpone it forever. It wasn't good for either of them, mentally or emotionally.

At least it became easier with each passing day to think about her without feeling the urge to cry. Her heart didn't hurt anymore whenever she searched for her with her eyes during class and found her staring back at her.

But to be with Amanda, to _truly_ be with her once again, she had to have a long and honest talk with her. And she was scared of the outcome.

And Amanda seemed to be scared too. She hadn't even tried to talk to her since the fateful day when she discovered she was Arthur. And she was thankful for that to some degree, because she wasn't sure she would be able to keep herself composed enough to actually talk. But also… it made her doubt Amanda's true intentions. Like, what if Amanda didn't _want_ to talk to her anymore? What if she didn't even like her?

Yeah, she knew those doubts were ridiculous and based on her own stupid fears, but still. Just thinking about it made her heart ache.

Just then, the trio arrived at the classroom and took their usual seats, waiting for the teacher to arrive as they kept talking. But Hannah just nodded when it seemed appropriate and pretended to be following the conversation, even when her eyes kept drifting towards the door every few seconds, like she was expecting someone.

A few minutes later, just as the teacher arrived, three young witches with green sashes walked through the door, and as it happened every day in every class, Amanda's green eyes met hers for a moment, which caused Hannah's heart to jump with both happiness and nervousness. But almost immediately those green eyes deviated to the floor, leaving her disappointed and aching with longing. After Amanda took her seat, however, she turned to search for Hannah once again, and when her eyes met for the second time, she held her gaze for a bit longer before looking away dejectedly. Honestly, she looked like a sad puppy, which Hannah had to admit was kinda adorable, but she was sure her own expression wasn't so different either.

All this pinning and dancing around had to end soon, or else she'd go crazy. Now, the question was… who would be brave enough to speak to the other first?

As things were, Hannah had a strong suspicion it would have to be her.

It had been ten days. Ten whole days since Amanda had revealed she was Arthur. Ten days since she was barely a functioning human being.

Hannah plagued her thoughts when she was awake and when she was asleep. When she was at classes or at the cafeteria, when she was talking with her friends, taking a flight around the school… It didn't matter what she did to try and distract herself, she always ended up thinking about Hannah.

Hannah, Hannah, Hannah. She was _everywhere_.

And the worst thing? She couldn't even talk to her.

It wasn't because of what Diana had told her, no, like hell she'd listen to the Cavendish girl! It was just that… she was afraid. Gosh, she was so afraid! She didn't want Hannah to hate her, to look at her with disgust, to tell her she didn't want to ever see her again and break her heart into pieces. But also, she didn't feel like she deserved to even talk to Hannah after everything she'd done.

Plus, she'd probably end up hurting her anyways, so it was better to keep her distance and wait for her to make the first step. And yes, that kinda sounded like what Diana had said, but it was totally her own idea, okay?

So, that evening she found herself flying around the sports fields as usual, trying to get away from her problems instead of confronting them face to face. But it was for the best. Probably.

And then another invasive thought about Hannah popped into her mind, distracting her from the crazy maneuver she was trying to make, so she had to resort to flying slowly in circles because honestly her concentration didn't allow for anything more.

She remembered how she had looked at her earlier in class, how she hadn't deviated her gaze like before, how her expression almost seemed longing for a moment before she pursed her lips and adopted her usual cold façade. She had wanted to go to her so badly, to kneel down and apologize, to… to, take her hands and kiss them, to caress her hair as gently as possible, to taste her lips once again…

She missed Hannah too much. Her heart would beat loudly inside her ribcage whenever she saw her, her palms would get all sweaty, and her mind would enter a state in which all things not-Hannah would either disappear or become incredibly insignificant. Honestly, it was a miracle she had retained as much self-control lately as she had.

She sighed, realizing she really shouldn't be trying to practice air acrobatics while in such a state of mind, and instead turned around and laid on her broom, just looking at the clouds and imagining a hundred scenarios in which she talked to Hannah and things somehow turned out well. Either she forgave her after she apologized profusely, or gave her ten conditions before finally agreeing to continue being her friend… or she actually wasn't mad at all and had been hoping she talked to her, so they kissed and lived happily ever after. And yes, each scenario was more unrealistic than the last.

But what was realistic, honestly? That Hannah would forgive her after a few months and a couple dozen of apologies, only to say she actually didn't really like her that way and wanted to be just friends? Amanda wasn't sure she could live with that. But she also didn't think she had the right to ask for more.

Maybe it was best to get herself expelled, like she had originally planned upon entering Luna Nova; go somewhere else far away from here, and forget about the whole thing.

Forget about Hannah.

If that was even possible.

Suddenly, a silhouette appeared on her field of vision, but it was obscured by the sun being behind it. Amanda used her hand to cover some of the light and see who was there, and… holy shit! All the control she had on her broom disappeared when she came face to face with her object of obsession. It made a jerky move, throwing off her balance, and she probably would have fallen if it wasn't for a gentle hand stabilizing her just in time.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you." Hannah said quickly, but Amanda was barely able to comprehend her words, her focus being mostly on the warm hand still placed atop her arm. A hand that was quickly removed as soon as Hannah noticed this fact too.

"Uhm… I, uh…" Amanda mumbled, her mouth apparently unable to form coherent sentences, or even words. There was so much she wanted to tell Hannah! But she couldn't for the life of her remember how to speak or do anything except stare at the beautiful girl that was closer to her than she'd been these past few days.

"I-I… I wanted to talk to you." The girl said, deviating her gaze nervously.

Amanda wasn't sure what the hell was going on, or if she had actually fallen asleep and was having yet another dream about Hannah, but she still nodded, and then followed the girl when she started flying towards the flight tower.

As soon as they both landed on the takeoff platform and put down their brooms, Hannah went to look at the horizon with a pensive expression as her hands gripped tightly the railing. Amanda chose to lean her back against the railing instead and looked towards the sky, trying to think of something to say, preferably something that wouldn't make things worse, but honestly her mind refused to cooperate with Hannah being so close. And so, both girls remained in silence for quite some time, the only sound being the wind blowing through the tower, as the air grew colder and chilled their bodies. After all, night was almost upon them.

At least it finally gave Amanda an idea of what to do. She took off her vest and used the metamorphosis spell to turn it into a jacket that she then handed to Hannah, deviating her gaze somewhere else as she extended the item towards her.

"Here, take it. It's cold." She said.

"Thanks." Hannah said, actually taking it and putting it around her shoulders, the shivers running through her body becoming far less frequent.

"I'm sorry." Amanda said, apparently having finally found her voice. "I never meant to hurt you."

"Yeah? Well, you did." Hannah answered, her voice sounded strained with barely contained anger and… also sadness. This, more than anything, made Amanda's heart ache.

"I'm sorry." She repeated. "I was going to tell you the truth, you know? That day at Blytonbury, I went dressed as a woman, but then I panicked as soon as I saw you come out of the terminal." She sighed. "You looked so beautiful in that yellow dress, so hopeful, so… I don't know! It's not every day that I get to date someone like you." She paused, pursing her lips.

"I know it's no justification, and that I should have told you sooner, but I-I just…" A painful knot formed on her throat and she had to swallow in order to force the words out of her mouth. She needed Hannah to hear this. "You are so different from what I thought. You're not the stuck up girl I imagined, you're actually funny and quite pleasant to be around, and you know dancing, and broom dancing! And your chocolates are so good, and…! You are just so amazing, you didn't deserve anything I did to you, but I was so afraid of losing you that I…" She trailed off, wiping with her hand a stray tear that had managed to fall.

"Why didn't you try talking to me sooner?" Hannah asked, a little bit of resentment leaking into her voice.

"I didn't think you wanted to even _see_ me. And I didn't intend to hurt you." She answered honestly, casting her gaze down to the ground in a sad gesture. "But again, I'm so, so sorry." She said a third time. "I just hope one day we can forgive me and, maybe, we could be friends."

"I don't want to be your friend, O'Neill." Hannah's words cut like daggers through Amanda's heart, almost making her gasp for air because of the pain she was suddenly feeling, but she tried to keep it cool, hold down her tears and turn around, so Hannah couldn't see her pain. But at the end it didn't matter, because Hannah wasn't looking at her as she spoke; her gaze was fixed on the ground far down below them.

"It took me a while to figure it out, and a little more time to accept it, but… _maybe_ I like girls." Amanda's poor broken heart seemed to resume its beating at Hannah's confession, hopeful for a good outcome, but the redhead still didn't let her expectations get too high, and continued looking away.

"And… yeah, what you did was pretty bad. It hurt, and you shouldn't have done it, but at the same time…" She sighed. "It allowed me to know you better. It helped me to see you as something more than a rebellious fool, to realize you can be fun, and smart in your own way, and sensitive, and… gosh, you dance so well! Both in the ground and in the air." Amanda could hear the smile on her voice, and when she chanced a glance at her, she found her blushing slightly, even if the darkness slowly crawling towards them helped masking it a bit.

"Amanda." She continued after a pause, finally turning to look at her, and when their eyes met, she instinctively held her breath. She looked so beautiful in the sunset's light. "You're so stupid, and I'm still angry at you for what you did, but at the same time… I can't really hate you." She smiled, a smile so loving, and so clearly directed at her that it made her heart dance widely inside her chest with newly regained hope. But surely Hannah wasn't about to say what she thought she'd say… right? "In fact, I like you. A lot. And I'm willing to give you one more chance to make things right."

"S-so… you're saying…" Amanda stammered, her head still trying to comprehend what was going on.

"I'm saying, O'Neill…" Hannah started, blushing madly and deviating her gaze to the ground. "That I don't want to be your friend. I want to be y-your… your g-girlfriend."

"Y-you… you want to… t-to…" Amanda's eyes were wide with disbelief. This was too good to be truth, right? But it felt so real! Her cheeks were warm with her blood rushing rapidly towards them, and her whole body seemed to be vibrating with excitement and happiness. And yet a part of her expected to wake up at any second now, to a far crueler world where Hannah didn't even talk to her.

"Yes. Now k-kiss me before I change my mind!" The shorter girl pretty much demanded, still blushing to the point even the tips of her ears appeared to be burning. Her posture was also rigid with nervousness and her eyes, although fixed on Amanda, seemed to be trying to appear angry… and failing. She looked so cute!

Amanda still felt like she was dreaming, but she couldn't deny her nervousness. Her sweaty palms were a prime example of this. Her trembling body? Another one. But there was no way in hell she was going to let a chance to kiss Hannah pass.

Slowly, she walked closer, until she was standing right in front of the other girl. Then, she brought up her left hand and gently cupped her cheek, while her other one went to grab her waist, pulling her closer. A part of her was expecting Hannah to slap her, honestly, but instead the girl raised her arms and placed them around Amanda's shoulders, her gaze excited but scared. Amanda smiled gently to reassure her, and then leaned down towards her, making sure to give her enough time to pull away. But she didn't. Hannah's eyes closed once she saw her inching closer, and she also leaned towards her, their lips meeting halfway through.

And as soon as their lips touched each other in a gentle caress, all lingering doubts either girl had literally flew out of the window. Despite everything they'd been though, despite all the mistakes made, they cared deeply for one another, they made each other happy, and right now they couldn't think of a better way to spend their time than kissing each other until the cold finally caught up with them and they were forced to go back to the school.

But that was okay. It was just one kiss of many they would surely share in the future. Because, even though their relationship had had a rocky start, they both knew it would last, their bond only made stronger by any difficulties they may endure in the future.

**The End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is really the end. And it actually saddens me that it's over, but that's how things are, right? Time to move on to other fics (yes, I'm posting a new one next week, and although it'll be mostly Diakko it will have some Hamanda, so, you know, stay tuned if you're interested). Anyways, thank you so much for reading and for all the support you've given me! I really, really, appreciate it. So, stay awesome and continue shipping Hamanda! :D
> 
> Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.


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